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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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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. chair — a leader
  4. content — happy
  5. press — a publisher
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wound — an injury
  11. press — newspapers
  12. prune — to trim
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. content — the amount
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. calf — a young animal

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