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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chair · cold · lash · deal · game · bark · press · pitcher

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. press — newspapers
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — not warm
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. chair — a leader
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. bark — to shout
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. deal — to handle
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — a match
  24. press — a publisher

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