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

Word bank: chair · cell · row · kid · press · jam

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. press — a publisher
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cell — in biology
  8. press — newspapers
  9. row — a line
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. kid — child
  14. chair — a leader
  15. row — to paddle
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cell — a phone

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