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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: hand · rash · last · cold · face · chair · suit · content

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. face — part of the head
  4. last — finally
  5. face — to confront
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. last — final
  8. chair — a leader
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. hand — help
  11. suit — clothes
  12. rash — a series
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. rash — hasty
  17. face — to point toward
  18. suit — to fit
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. last — to go on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — in cards

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