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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bat — the animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. chair — a leader
  5. spring — the season
  6. present — there
  7. spring — of water
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. present — the time now
  18. rush — hurry
  19. present — a gift
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. press — to push
  23. spring — a coil
  24. press — a publisher

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