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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. press — to push
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — a safe
  6. land — a country
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mate — a partner
  11. clip — a video
  12. press — newspapers
  13. land — ground
  14. press — a publisher
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. file — a line of people
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mate — a friend
  19. file — a document
  20. mate — to breed
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. file — a tool
  24. fan — a supporter

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