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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kid — child
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. present — there
  5. face — to point toward
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rest — what's left
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. present — the time now
  20. face — to confront
  21. rest — a break
  22. face — part of the head
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. mouse — for a computer

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