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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: fall · race · press · sharp · drill · tear · pit · chair

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fall — to drop
  4. race — the arms race
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. press — to push
  11. sharp — clever
  12. drill — army training
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. pit — a hole
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. press — a publisher
  18. tear — to rip
  19. press — newspapers
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. race — a contest
  22. fall — to drop
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fall — the season

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