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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 function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — in biology
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. bat — the animal
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. press — a publisher
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cold — an illness
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. press — to push
  19. chest — a box
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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