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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: bat · jam · face · nail · march · straw · chair · rest

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. 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. face — to point toward
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rest — what's left
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. rest — a break
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. face — to confront
  11. chair — a leader
  12. march — music
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. bat — the animal
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. face — part of the head
  20. rest — what's left
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. march — the month
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. 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