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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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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rest — a break
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. kid — child
  5. press — to push
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. rest — what's left
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. fall — the season
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. deal — to handle
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. fall — to drop
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. press — newspapers
  22. fall — to drop
  23. rest — what's left
  24. press — a publisher

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