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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rash — a series
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. chair — a leader
  5. cold — an illness
  6. last — to go on
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. press — a publisher
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. club — a group
  12. last — finally
  13. branch — a division
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. press — newspapers
  16. club — for golf
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rash — hasty
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. press — to push
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. club — for dancing
  24. cold — the Cold War

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