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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: tear · rash · straw · present · face · pound · chair · snap

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rash — hasty
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pound — a weight
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. present — the time now
  8. rash — a series
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. present — a gift
  14. face — part of the head
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. face — to confront
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. tear — from crying
  22. present — there
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. straw — a straw man

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