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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: chair · deal · press · chest · last · land · file · mate

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. land — a country
  2. mate — a friend
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. last — to go on
  6. mate — a partner
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. last — finally
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. last — final
  14. land — ground
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. press — to push
  18. press — a publisher
  19. deal — to handle
  20. chest — a box
  21. mate — to breed
  22. file — a tool
  23. land — to come down
  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