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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bulb — for light
  9. land — ground
  10. date — the fruit
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cell — in biology
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. toast — bread
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — for digging
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bulb — for light
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. cell — in a prison

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