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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 120 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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. press — a publisher
  3. squash — the sport
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chest — of your body
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. chest — of your body
  9. press — newspapers
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. plane — a tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. prune — to trim
  18. squash — to crush
  19. chest — a box
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a leader
  23. press — to push
  24. bowl — a dish

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