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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — a leader
  3. lean — thin
  4. chip — to eat
  5. press — newspapers
  6. degree — an amount
  7. club — for dancing
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wind — moving air
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. press — a publisher
  13. face — part of the head
  14. club — a group
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chip — for betting
  18. face — to confront
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. face — to point toward
  22. wind — moving air
  23. club — for golf
  24. press — to push

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