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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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. file — a document
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. press — a publisher
  11. game — a match
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. scale — size or range
  15. game — wild animals
  16. march — music
  17. scale — in music
  18. press — newspapers
  19. march — the month
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. file — a tool
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. file — a line of people
  24. vault — a safe

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