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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
468
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: press · mine · cap · cold · foot · chair · wax · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cap — of ice
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chair — a leader
  6. season — in sport
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — newspapers
  9. foot — a measure
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cap — a lid
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. season — of the year
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. press — to push
  24. cold — an illness

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