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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. season — in sport
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. capital — money
  7. band — a ring
  8. capital — a city
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. press — a publisher
  11. mark — a grade
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. file — a document
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. file — a line of people
  17. press — to push
  18. file — a tool
  19. press — newspapers
  20. band — a music group
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. season — of the year

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