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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. ground — the earth
  4. face — to point toward
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cell — a phone
  7. hand — help
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. chair — a leader
  11. face — part of the head
  12. ground — a position
  13. face — to confront
  14. current — of water
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. current — electric
  19. hand — in cards
  20. current — happening now
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cabinet — ministers

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