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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 124 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a match
  3. press — a publisher
  4. spring — of water
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — final
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. capital — money
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. last — finally
  22. spring — the season
  23. capital — a city
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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