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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 · wound · chair · kid · coach · bound · deal · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bound — tied together
  3. press — a publisher
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — to handle
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bound — obliged
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. kid — child
  23. bound — certain
  24. wound — an injury

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