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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. mug — a face
  3. tube — a container
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. press — a publisher
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. mug — to rob
  10. cold — not warm
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. press — newspapers
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. land — a country
  17. mug — a cup
  18. tube — the underground
  19. press — to push
  20. land — ground
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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