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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. press — newspapers
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — of law
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. lean — thin
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cold — an illness
  11. press — a publisher
  12. land — ground
  13. kid — child
  14. court — for sport
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. land — to come down
  18. press — to push
  19. court — of a king
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. land — a country
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. lean — to bend

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