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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: hand · pass · bear · chair · press · cell · clip · stand

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. press — to push
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. chair — a leader
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bear — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bear — the animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. press — newspapers
  20. hand — help
  21. stand — to bear
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pass — a permit
  24. cell — in a prison

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