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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: bear · straw · club · snap · chair · file · craft · face

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. face — part of the head
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bear — the animal
  7. club — for golf
  8. file — a document
  9. chair — a leader
  10. face — to point toward
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. face — to confront
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. file — a tool
  15. club — for dancing
  16. snap — to click
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bear — the animal
  20. craft — boats
  21. club — a group
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. file — a line of people

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