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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · wind · face · rest · kick · mine

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. face — to confront
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. face — to point toward
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. rest — what's left
  12. chair — a leader
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. face — part of the head
  18. rest — what's left

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