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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: temple · chair · pitch · face · present · file · mine · wind

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — there
  5. face — part of the head
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. file — a document
  11. pitch — completely
  12. file — a tool
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — to point toward
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. mine — for digging
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. file — a line of people
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. face — to confront
  24. present — the time now

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