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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. hand — in cards
  5. file — a line of people
  6. press — to push
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. file — a tool
  9. press — a publisher
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. hand — help
  13. press — newspapers
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. file — a document
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — final

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