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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. last — finally
  2. cell — a phone
  3. last — final
  4. press — a publisher
  5. cap — a hat
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cap — of ice
  8. press — to push
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kick — in football
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cap — a lid
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. pitch — completely
  23. file — a tool
  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