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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tube — the underground
  13. key — in music
  14. chair — a leader
  15. press — a publisher
  16. prune — to trim
  17. press — newspapers
  18. key — for a lock
  19. press — to push
  20. tube — a container
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. file — a line of people
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. prune — the fruit

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