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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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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. file — a line of people
  3. spring — a coil
  4. drill — army training
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. press — to push
  8. drill — a practice
  9. dip — to sink
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. press — a publisher
  12. staff — a stick
  13. spring — of water
  14. capital — a city
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. file — a document
  17. drill — the tool
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — employees
  20. capital — money
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. spring — the season
  23. press — newspapers
  24. file — a tool

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