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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. fall — the season
  4. present — there
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. fall — to drop
  9. press — to push
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. present — the time now
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. present — a gift
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. press — a publisher
  22. court — of a king
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. press — newspapers

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