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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — part of the head
  3. scale — in music
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. game — a match
  6. face — to point toward
  7. file — a document
  8. scale — size or range
  9. chair — a leader
  10. file — a line of people
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cap — a hat
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. face — to confront
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. kid — child
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. file — a tool
  24. nail — on a finger

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