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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: press · chair · cold · pit · fine · perch · deal · wound

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fine — all right
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pit — in a race
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — not warm
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. perch — the fish
  17. fine — high quality
  18. pit — a hole
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. press — to push
  24. wound — an injury

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