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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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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: face · bat · shower · current · mug · chair · rash · hand

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. hand — help
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. shower — rain
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mug — a face
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mug — to rob
  11. current — electric
  12. current — happening now
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. shower — to wash
  17. face — to confront
  18. mug — a cup
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. hand — in cards

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