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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 120 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: cell · content · row · swing · chair · face · saw · arm

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. saw — the tool
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. swing — to play on
  5. content — happy
  6. face — to confront
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. swing — music
  12. row — to paddle
  13. swing — in golf
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — a phone
  16. row — a line
  17. face — part of the head
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — in biology
  21. face — to point toward
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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