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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. rash — a series
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. game — a match
  10. press — newspapers
  11. spring — a coil
  12. press — to push
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — hasty
  16. game — wild animals
  17. spring — the season
  18. chair — a leader
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spring — of water

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