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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. mate — a partner
  5. stand — to bear
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. face — to confront
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. snap — to click
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mate — a friend
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. chair — a leader
  22. mate — to breed
  23. face — to point toward
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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