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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. press — a publisher
  3. kid — child
  4. tube — the underground
  5. ground — the earth
  6. race — the arms race
  7. rash — hasty
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chair — a leader
  15. tube — a container
  16. face — to point toward
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rash — a series
  23. kid — to tease
  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