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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wind — moving air
  3. press — a publisher
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bound — obliged
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — thin
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. hand — help
  10. fork — in a road
  11. lean — to bend
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. hand — in cards
  16. squash — to crush
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. press — newspapers
  19. wind — moving air
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. press — to push
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  24. squash — the sport

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