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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: patient · press · cabinet · straw · chair · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. press — to push
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. chair — a leader
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — a publisher

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