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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. staff — employees
  3. kid — to tease
  4. staff — a stick
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. press — newspapers
  8. hand — help
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bat — the animal
  12. staff — employees
  13. fall — the season
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. press — a publisher
  16. field — a subject
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. press — to push
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. field — farmland
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. field — for sport
  24. bat — in an idiom

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