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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 116 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. press — a publisher
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. file — a document
  7. press — newspapers
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. press — to push
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. file — a tool

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