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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. tube — a container
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. land — to come down
  8. press — a publisher
  9. chest — a box
  10. land — a country
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. chest — of your body
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. press — to push
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. land — ground
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cap — a hat
  21. tube — the underground
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cap — a lid
  24. press — newspapers

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