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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. face — part of the head
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. face — to confront
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bark — to shout
  8. game — a match
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. face — to point toward
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bass — the fish
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. fall — the season
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bass — low music
  20. mate — a partner
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. mate — a friend

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