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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. saw — the tool
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. press — newspapers
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bat — the animal
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. press — to push
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. prune — to trim

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