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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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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 · face · sharp · deal · race · cell

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. sharp — clever
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — to handle
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cell — in biology
  9. race — humankind
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. race — the arms race
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. race — a contest
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cell — a phone

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