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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 · perch · cold · pit · cap · can · kid · chair

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. chair — a leader
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pit — a hole
  6. perch — the fish
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. kid — to tease
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cap — a lid
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kid — child
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. press — to push
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a hat
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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