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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. face — to point toward
  3. chest — of your body
  4. face — to confront
  5. chest — a box
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. spell — magic
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rest — what's left
  15. face — part of the head
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — temperature
  18. spell — letters
  19. rest — a break
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com