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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. staff — a stick
  4. cold — an illness
  5. press — newspapers
  6. staff — employees
  7. bark — to shout
  8. staff — employees
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. kid — child
  13. chair — a leader
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — to push
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. press — a publisher
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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