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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. stem — to come from
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. squash — to crush
  6. lean — to bend
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. press — a publisher
  9. chair — a leader
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. ground — crushed
  16. squash — the sport
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. press — to push
  19. ground — a position
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lean — thin
  23. press — newspapers
  24. ground — the earth

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