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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 120 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ground — a position
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. lean — thin
  8. ground — the earth
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tube — a container
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. object — to protest
  14. lean — to bend
  15. press — to push
  16. ground — crushed
  17. scale — size or range
  18. press — newspapers
  19. tube — the underground
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. object — an aim
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. press — a publisher
  24. scale — in music

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