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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 124 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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bank — for money
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a tool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. press — a publisher
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a document
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. land — to come down
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. bat — the animal
  16. land — ground
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bank — for money
  19. file — a line of people
  20. press — to push
  21. land — a country
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bank — of a river

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