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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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Word bank
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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. suit — to fit
  3. suit — in cards
  4. face — to point toward
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. face — part of the head
  8. tear — from crying
  9. suit — clothes
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. tear — to rip
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tear — from crying
  16. file — a document
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a tool
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cold — the Cold War

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