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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: mouse · press · chest · fork · clip · land · chair · patient

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fork — in a road
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. chest — a box
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. press — a publisher
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. press — newspapers
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. land — to come down
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. chest — of your body
  21. clip — a video
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. press — to push

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