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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. club — for dancing
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. press — to push
  7. degree — temperature
  8. press — newspapers
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. file — a line of people
  12. club — for golf
  13. club — a group
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. object — a thing
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — an amount
  19. press — a publisher
  20. fork — in a road
  21. file — a document
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. degree — from a university

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