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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. perch — the fish
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. game — a match
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mine — for digging
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. game — wild animals
  13. branch — a division
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. press — to push
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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