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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. land — to come down
  3. snap — to click
  4. fall — to drop
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. press — to push
  7. press — a publisher
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — ground
  10. swing — to play on
  11. race — the arms race
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. swing — music
  14. chair — a leader
  15. race — a contest
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rash — hasty
  18. race — humankind
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. press — newspapers
  22. land — a country
  23. fall — the season
  24. chair — a professorship

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