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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. capital — a city
  4. wound — an injury
  5. press — newspapers
  6. tube — a container
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. roll — a cake
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — an illness
  11. roll — a list
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. press — to push
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. press — a publisher
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — the underground

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