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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pound — a weight
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. press — to push
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fork — in a road
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. press — a publisher
  20. scale — in music
  21. snap — to click
  22. scale — size or range
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chair — to sit on

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