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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. press — to push
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. last — final
  5. content — happy
  6. press — a publisher
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. capital — money
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. content — the amount
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. kick — in football
  13. last — to go on
  14. press — newspapers
  15. last — finally
  16. capital — a city
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. snap — to click
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rush — hurry

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