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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. press — to push
  3. pit — in a race
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wind — moving air
  6. press — a publisher
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. press — newspapers
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pit — a hole
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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