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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. press — to push
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bound — certain
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bound — obliged
  9. press — a publisher
  10. race — a contest
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bound — tied together
  14. press — newspapers
  15. chest — a box
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fall — to drop
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fall — the season
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. shower — rain

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