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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chest — a box
  8. press — a publisher
  9. track — a song
  10. toast — bread
  11. clip — to cut
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. clip — a video
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — low music
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. track — to keep track
  18. press — to push
  19. track — a path
  20. chest — of your body
  21. press — newspapers
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bass — the instrument

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