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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. swing — in golf
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — a box
  11. swing — music
  12. press — to push
  13. swing — to play on
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — a container
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. chair — to sit on

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