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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rock · content · game · chair · hide · row · band · face

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. band — a music group
  3. face — to point toward
  4. rock — music
  5. face — to confront
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — to paddle
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rock — a stone
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. face — part of the head
  17. row — a line
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. game — a match
  20. band — a ring
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. content — happy
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. content — the amount

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