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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. club — a group
  3. shower — to wash
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. net — for catching
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. shower — rain
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — wild animals
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. press — to push
  13. press — newspapers
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. club — for dancing
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chair — a leader
  19. press — a publisher
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — for golf
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — a match
  24. ruler — for measuring

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