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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pound — a weight
  3. press — a publisher
  4. file — a tool
  5. press — to push
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rash — a series
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. press — newspapers
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — to recline
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. rash — hasty

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