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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: face · wake · last · chair · spring · scale · squash · net

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. spring — of water
  3. face — to point toward
  4. spring — a coil
  5. scale — in music
  6. face — to confront
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. last — final
  9. face — part of the head
  10. last — finally
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wake — a trail
  13. squash — to crush
  14. net — after costs
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. net — for catching
  19. squash — the sport
  20. last — to go on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. spring — the season

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