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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bat — the animal
  3. file — a tool
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. press — a publisher
  6. ball — a great time
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. ball — a dance
  9. chest — a box
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. chest — of your body
  18. file — a document
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. press — to push

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