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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: pitcher · bat · chair · press · mouse · saw · hand · season

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. hand — help
  3. season — in sport
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. press — a publisher
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. press — to push
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. press — newspapers
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. season — of the year
  24. pitcher — a jug

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