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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: chair · press · game · chest · row · vault · perch · drill

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. drill — a practice
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chair — a leader
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. press — newspapers
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. vault — a safe
  10. chest — of your body
  11. drill — army training
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. perch — the fish
  14. chest — a box
  15. drill — the tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. game — a match
  18. row — a line
  19. press — to push
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — to paddle
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. press — a publisher
  24. game — wild animals

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