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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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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 · mine · file · last · squash · current · press · net

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mine — for digging
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. file — a tool
  6. current — of water
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. last — to go on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. file — a document
  11. squash — the sport
  12. press — newspapers
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. press — to push
  16. current — electric
  17. last — final
  18. file — a line of people
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. net — for catching
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. last — finally
  23. squash — to crush
  24. current — happening now

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