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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: charge · press · clip · patient · chair · stand · row · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. row — to paddle
  9. charge — a price
  10. clip — a video
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. row — a line
  13. charge — electricity
  14. press — a publisher
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. charge — in control
  17. press — newspapers
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. press — to push
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stand — to bear

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