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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: bay · field · jam · wound · chair · saw · tear · press

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — to rip
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. saw — the tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wound — an injury
  12. saw — the tool
  13. press — to push
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chair — a leader
  17. field — for sport
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. press — newspapers
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bay — a horse colour

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