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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. chair — a leader
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pop — soda
  6. branch — a division
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. pop — to visit
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pit — a hole
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pit — in a race
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. press — newspapers
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pop — music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. press — to push
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — to crush

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