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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: club · kid · wake · craft · net · pound · press · chair

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chair — a leader
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. club — for golf
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. club — a group
  16. press — newspapers
  17. net — in sport
  18. craft — a skill
  19. kid — child
  20. wake — a trail
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — to push
  24. craft — boats

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