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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chair — a leader
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. press — to push
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. field — a subject
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. squash — to crush
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. date — the fruit
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — the arms race
  15. press — a publisher
  16. plane — a tool
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. press — newspapers

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