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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. face — to confront
  3. swing — in golf
  4. kick — in football
  5. chair — a leader
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mate — to breed
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. swing — to play on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. mate — a partner
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bound — tied together
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. mate — a friend
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bound — obliged
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. swing — music
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bound — certain

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