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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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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: last · kid · press · straw · court · chair

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. kid — to tease
  5. press — newspapers
  6. chair — a leader
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. court — of a king
  10. press — to push
  11. court — for sport
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. court — of law
  15. kid — child
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. press — a publisher
  18. straw — dry grass

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