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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 120 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: arm · rule · wave · cap · press · chair · key · kid

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rule — a law
  3. press — to push
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. key — for a lock
  6. press — a publisher
  7. chair — a leader
  8. key — the most important part
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. rule — government
  12. key — in music
  13. cap — a lid
  14. kid — child
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cap — of ice
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. kid — to tease
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cap — a hat
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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