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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: chair · staff · spell · drill · bat · toast · tear · face

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. staff — employees
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. drill — army training
  8. face — part of the head
  9. chair — a leader
  10. drill — a practice
  11. tear — from crying
  12. face — to confront
  13. staff — employees
  14. toast — bread
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. staff — a stick
  17. tear — to rip
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. drill — the tool
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bat — the animal
  24. face — to point toward

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