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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. press — to push
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — ground
  11. cold — not warm
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. board — to get on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chair — a leader
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. land — to come down
  21. bass — low music
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. land — a country
  24. press — a publisher

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