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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. press — to push
  3. file — a tool
  4. mug — to rob
  5. pitch — completely
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mug — a cup
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. file — a document
  12. mug — a face
  13. race — the arms race
  14. press — newspapers
  15. race — humankind
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. race — a contest
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. press — a publisher
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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