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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 · land · bark · press · wake · wind · net · chair

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — ground
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. net — in sport
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. press — to push
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. net — after costs
  18. press — newspapers
  19. press — a publisher
  20. land — a country
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. bark — to shout
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — before a funeral

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