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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: bat · swing · file · chair · pop · prune · deal · press

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pop — to visit
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bat — the animal
  5. press — a publisher
  6. swing — in golf
  7. prune — to trim
  8. file — a tool
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. swing — music
  11. press — newspapers
  12. pop — music
  13. press — to push
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pop — soda
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. file — a document
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. chair — to sit on

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