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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. staff — employees
  3. press — to push
  4. spring — a coil
  5. chip — to eat
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — army training
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kid — to tease
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — child
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. staff — employees
  18. spring — of water
  19. press — a publisher
  20. staff — a stick
  21. spring — the season
  22. chip — for betting
  23. drill — the tool
  24. chip — in a computer

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