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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: leaves · snap · sharp · chair · face · hand · rush · chest

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. face — to point toward
  6. snap — to click
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. hand — in cards
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. hand — help
  18. chest — of your body
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. sharp — clever
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. chest — a box
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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