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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. mate — a friend
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. rash — hasty
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. press — to push
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mate — to breed
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. rash — a series
  17. spring — the season
  18. kid — child
  19. press — a publisher
  20. spring — of water
  21. press — newspapers
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. mate — a partner

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