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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 116 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 · firm · march · race · chair · squash · fork · face

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. race — a contest
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — the sport
  7. face — part of the head
  8. march — music
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. march — the month
  11. firm — a company
  12. firm — decided
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. present — a gift
  15. race — the arms race
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. march — the month
  18. present — the time now
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. fork — in a road
  22. present — there
  23. race — humankind
  24. squash — to crush

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