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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cold — an illness
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cold — not warm
  6. file — a tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pass — a permit
  9. press — to push
  10. face — to confront
  11. march — music
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. file — a document
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. face — to point toward
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. face — part of the head
  20. race — a contest
  21. march — the month
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. race — humankind
  24. march — the month

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