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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: fork · cell · march · face · mouse · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. face — to confront
  4. chair — a leader
  5. face — part of the head
  6. cell — in biology
  7. fork — in a road
  8. march — the month
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — music
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. march — the month

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