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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rest · field · press · chair · sharp · rule

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. press — a publisher
  4. chair — a leader
  5. rule — a law
  6. field — a subject
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. press — newspapers
  10. rule — government
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. field — for sport
  14. press — to push
  15. field — farmland
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rest — what's left

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