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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: cold · chair · object · straw · jam · club · pass · press

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. object — an aim
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — for golf
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. press — newspapers
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. press — to push
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. object — to protest
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pass — a permit
  23. club — a group
  24. object — a thing

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