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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. press — a publisher
  4. spell — a short time
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. root — of a word
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. capital — a city
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. spell — magic
  12. file — a tool
  13. capital — money
  14. spell — letters
  15. file — a document
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. root — the cause
  18. press — newspapers
  19. file — a line of people
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cell — in biology
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cell — a phone

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