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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. chip — to eat
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. press — newspapers
  5. press — to push
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. file — a document
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. perch — the fish
  15. chip — for betting
  16. last — to go on
  17. wake — a trail
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. file — a line of people
  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