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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. file — a tool
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. club — for golf
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. press — a publisher
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fine — high quality
  12. club — for dancing
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. press — newspapers
  16. club — a group
  17. press — to push
  18. file — a document

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