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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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Word bank
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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: pop · patient · cell · content · chair · press · cold · mug

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. mug — a cup
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pop — soda
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. press — newspapers
  9. cell — a phone
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. content — the amount
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pop — music
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mug — a face
  22. chair — a leader
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

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