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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: press · game · wind · straw · chair · rule · chip · ground

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. press — to push
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. wind — moving air
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. press — newspapers
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. chip — for betting
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. rule — a law
  19. rule — government
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. press — a publisher
  22. ground — crushed
  23. game — a match
  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