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

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rush — hurry
  5. press — to push
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. cell — in biology
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. rash — a series
  18. dip — to sink
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. press — a publisher
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. press — newspapers

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