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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: present · lie · mouse · clip · march · face · cell · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. cell — a phone
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. face — to confront
  5. march — music
  6. cell — in biology
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. present — there
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. march — the month
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. present — the time now
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chair — a leader
  20. face — part of the head
  21. present — a gift
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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