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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 · lean · saw · last · cap · band · press · squash

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. saw — the tool
  3. last — final
  4. cap — a lid
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cap — of ice
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. press — to push
  10. lean — to bend
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. last — to go on
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. cap — a hat
  16. saw — the tool
  17. squash — the sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — a publisher
  21. last — finally
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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