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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. file — a tool
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cell — in biology
  5. press — to push
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — a publisher
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cell — a phone
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bore — to tire
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. file — a document
  15. tube — the underground
  16. staff — employees
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. tube — a container
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. staff — a stick
  24. cell — in a prison

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