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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: chair · stem · bat · snap · face · wind · wake · file

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bat — the animal
  3. face — to confront
  4. file — a line of people
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. file — a document
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. file — a tool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. stem — to come from
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. chair — a leader
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. chair — to sit on

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