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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mark — a trace
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. press — a publisher
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bank — for money
  11. tube — the underground
  12. mark — a grade
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. bank — for money
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bank — of a river
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. press — to push
  24. press — newspapers

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