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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. press — a publisher
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. tube — the underground
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — a container
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. press — to push
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. press — newspapers
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chair — to sit on

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