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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bound — tied together
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bound — certain
  11. press — newspapers
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bound — obliged
  14. season — in sport
  15. press — to push
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. season — of the year
  18. press — a publisher
  19. cell — in biology
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. bore — to drill
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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