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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 124 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. date — the fruit
  3. staff — a stick
  4. file — a line of people
  5. shower — rain
  6. bat — the animal
  7. file — a document
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. clip — to cut
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — a video
  12. shower — to wash
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a tool
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. press — to push
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. press — newspapers
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. staff — employees
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. staff — employees
  24. clip — for paper

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