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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: staff · face · last · wound · chair · tear · lean · bass

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a leader
  4. staff — a stick
  5. last — to go on
  6. face — to confront
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bass — the fish
  9. staff — employees
  10. lean — to bend
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. face — to point toward
  14. staff — employees
  15. lean — thin
  16. tear — to rip
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bass — low music
  24. face — part of the head

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