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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bound — obliged
  5. face — part of the head
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spring — of water
  9. face — to point toward
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — tied together
  13. object — an aim
  14. object — a thing
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. face — to confront
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. plane — a tool
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. straw — dry grass

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