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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. last — to go on
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. fall — the season
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. fall — to drop
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. last — final
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. last — finally
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. press — to push
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cell — in biology
  16. press — newspapers
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fall — to drop
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cell — a phone
  21. branch — a division
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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