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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: lie · key · trunk · chair · press · cold · craft · present

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. cold — not warm
  3. key — the most important part
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. press — a publisher
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. craft — a skill
  11. press — newspapers
  12. key — in music
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. craft — boats
  15. key — for a lock
  16. present — there
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lie — to recline
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — a gift

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