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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: tear · press · date · bowl · straw · land · row · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. tear — to rip
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. row — a line
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. row — to paddle
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. land — a country
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. press — to push
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — newspapers
  18. date — the fruit
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. press — a publisher
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. row — a quarrel

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