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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cap — a lid
  3. last — final
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. snap — to click
  7. cap — a hat
  8. chair — a leader
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. club — for dancing
  12. kick — in football
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. club — for golf
  17. march — music
  18. cap — of ice
  19. press — a publisher
  20. last — to go on
  21. press — to push
  22. club — a group
  23. press — newspapers
  24. last — finally

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