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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. kid — to tease
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. chair — a leader
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — child
  12. press — a publisher
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. press — newspapers
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. press — to push

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