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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. press — to push
  3. mate — a partner
  4. rest — what's left
  5. press — a publisher
  6. mate — to breed
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mate — a friend
  9. tube — a container
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. tube — the underground
  12. track — to keep track
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. press — newspapers
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. track — a path
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rash — hasty
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rash — a series

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