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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. file — a line of people
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. press — a publisher
  5. capital — money
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. file — a tool
  8. game — wild animals
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. file — a document
  14. field — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. field — farmland
  17. capital — a city
  18. field — a subject
  19. snap — to click
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. chair — a leader
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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