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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 120 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: nail · kid · chair · squash · race · present · spring · press

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — to tease
  3. squash — to crush
  4. race — humankind
  5. kid — child
  6. race — a contest
  7. spring — the season
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. spring — of water
  12. chair — a leader
  13. present — a gift
  14. race — the arms race
  15. present — the time now
  16. press — to push
  17. spring — a coil
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. press — a publisher
  23. present — there
  24. press — newspapers

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