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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. rest — a break
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. shower — rain
  5. cell — a phone
  6. press — to push
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. shower — to wash
  10. file — a document
  11. march — the month
  12. rest — what's left
  13. file — a line of people
  14. march — the month
  15. present — the time now
  16. march — music
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. file — a tool
  19. press — newspapers
  20. present — a gift
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. cell — in biology
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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