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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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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: wave · swing · squash · press · bark · capital · shower · chair

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. capital — a city
  5. swing — in golf
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. shower — to wash
  8. swing — music
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. shower — rain
  12. press — newspapers
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. press — to push
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. capital — money
  24. press — a publisher

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