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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. face — to point toward
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pop — soda
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. pop — to visit
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pop — music
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ball — a dance
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

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

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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