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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: press · tube · squash · hand · land · chair · mine · foot

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. foot — a measure
  6. land — ground
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. chair — a leader
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. mine — for digging
  12. press — newspapers
  13. land — a country
  14. squash — to crush
  15. tube — the underground
  16. press — to push
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. land — to come down
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. tube — a container
  23. press — a publisher
  24. squash — the sport

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