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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. mug — a face
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — a container
  6. bass — low music
  7. mug — a cup
  8. press — a publisher
  9. swing — to play on
  10. face — to point toward
  11. press — to push
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. face — to confront
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mug — to rob
  20. tube — the underground
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. face — part of the head

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