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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. march — music
  3. file — a line of people
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. net — after costs
  8. file — a document
  9. content — the amount
  10. press — newspapers
  11. press — to push
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a tool
  15. net — in sport
  16. march — the month
  17. content — happy
  18. press — a publisher
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. content — videos and posts

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