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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 116 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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cap — of ice
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chair — a leader
  7. spring — a coil
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pound — a weight
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — the season
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wound — an injury
  18. deal — to handle
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. spring — of water
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. press — newspapers

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