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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. hand — help
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. press — to push
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. hand — in cards
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. land — ground
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. press — a publisher
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. land — a country
  20. file — a document
  21. date — the fruit
  22. file — a tool
  23. press — newspapers
  24. hand — part of the body

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