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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. press — newspapers
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cold — an illness
  10. press — to push
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. drill — the tool
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — to wash
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. shower — rain
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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