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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. spell — magic
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wound — an injury
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chair — a leader
  8. face — part of the head
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hand — in cards
  12. face — to confront
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. spell — letters
  19. hand — help
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. wound — an injury
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. spell — a short time
  24. chair — to sit on

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