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

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. press — newspapers
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. staff — employees
  5. press — to push
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. file — a tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a document
  12. cold — an illness
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. staff — employees
  15. race — a contest
  16. rush — hurry
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. race — humankind
  19. deal — to handle
  20. press — a publisher
  21. row — a line
  22. staff — a stick
  23. file — a line of people
  24. deal — an agreement

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