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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tube — a container
  3. spell — a short time
  4. chest — of your body
  5. court — of law
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rash — hasty
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. press — newspapers
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. chest — a box
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. spell — letters
  18. court — for sport
  19. tube — the underground
  20. press — a publisher
  21. spell — magic
  22. press — to push
  23. rash — a series
  24. court — of a king

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