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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: present · club · chair · field · row · press · face · cap

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — a group
  3. present — a gift
  4. field — for sport
  5. chair — a leader
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. face — part of the head
  8. club — for golf
  9. face — to point toward
  10. present — there
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. field — a subject
  13. cap — a hat
  14. press — a publisher
  15. present — the time now
  16. field — farmland
  17. press — to push
  18. cap — a lid
  19. row — to paddle
  20. face — to confront
  21. press — newspapers
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. row — a line
  24. cap — of ice

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