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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. present — there
  4. deal — to handle
  5. present — the time now
  6. tube — the underground
  7. last — final
  8. cell — in biology
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. cell — a phone
  11. season — of the year
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. press — a publisher
  14. last — finally
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tube — a container
  18. season — in sport
  19. press — to push
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. present — a gift
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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