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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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468
Word bank
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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. press — a publisher
  5. chest — a box
  6. press — newspapers
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. press — to push
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wound — an injury
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chair — a leader
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. fork — in a road

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