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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wind — moving air
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. press — a publisher
  8. mine — for digging
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. staff — a stick
  14. stock — goods
  15. dip — to sink
  16. stock — shares
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. press — newspapers
  19. fall — to drop
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. press — to push
  23. fall — the season
  24. staff — employees

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