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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mate — to breed
  4. swing — in golf
  5. mate — a friend
  6. shower — rain
  7. capital — money
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. rash — a series
  12. shower — to wash
  13. chair — a leader
  14. press — newspapers
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mate — a partner
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. vault — a safe
  23. press — a publisher
  24. rash — on the skin

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