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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. press — a publisher
  5. row — a line
  6. face — to point toward
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. game — a match
  11. press — newspapers
  12. game — wild animals
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chair — a leader
  15. face — to confront
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. face — part of the head
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. press — to push

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