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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. cold — an illness
  3. press — a publisher
  4. key — for a lock
  5. chip — to eat
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. staff — employees
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — for betting
  14. key — the most important part
  15. staff — employees
  16. press — to push
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. press — newspapers
  20. band — a music group
  21. key — in music
  22. saw — the tool
  23. band — a ring
  24. saw — the tool

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