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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. press — to push
  3. row — a line
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. file — a tool
  8. press — a publisher
  9. file — a document
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. game — a match
  14. fine — all right
  15. press — newspapers
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fine — high quality
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. hand — help
  22. row — to paddle
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. sharp — clever

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