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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 · mark · bark · wind · perch · face · chip · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. face — to confront
  7. chair — a leader
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. perch — the fish
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chip — to eat
  15. wind — moving air
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. face — part of the head
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. face — to point toward
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. mark — to pay attention

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