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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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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: chair · kick · fork · cell · ground · tear · face · patient

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ground — a position
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fork — in a road
  11. tear — from crying
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cell — a phone
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cell — in biology
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. face — part of the head

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