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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rock — music
  3. file — a tool
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. present — there
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rule — government
  9. file — a document
  10. cell — a phone
  11. face — to point toward
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rule — a law
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. cell — in biology
  18. face — part of the head
  19. present — the time now
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. present — a gift
  23. pound — a weight
  24. rock — a stone

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