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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. face — part of the head
  4. chair — a leader
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. club — for dancing
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. club — for golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. club — a group
  15. board — a committee
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. tear — to rip
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. face — to confront

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