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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pit — a hole
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. press — a publisher
  6. mine — for digging
  7. press — newspapers
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. press — to push
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pit — in a race
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. chest — a box
  15. tube — a container
  16. rash — hasty
  17. track — a path
  18. rash — a series
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. cell — a phone
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. cell — in biology

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