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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mate — a friend
  5. fine — high quality
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fine — all right
  8. current — electric
  9. shower — rain
  10. mate — to breed
  11. press — newspapers
  12. current — of water
  13. bat — the animal
  14. press — a publisher
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — a container
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. press — to push
  19. current — happening now
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. present — there
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — a gift
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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