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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. face — to point toward
  3. chair — a leader
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. fall — to drop
  7. roll — a list
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wax — to grow
  13. march — the month
  14. cap — a lid
  15. fall — the season
  16. face — part of the head
  17. hand — in cards
  18. march — the month
  19. hand — help
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. march — music
  23. face — to confront
  24. fall — to drop

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