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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. perch — the fish
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. stem — to come from
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bass — low music
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. press — a publisher
  15. lean — thin
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bat — in an idiom

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