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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rock — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. track — a path
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. press — to push
  7. wake — a trail
  8. tear — to rip
  9. press — newspapers
  10. tear — from crying
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. tear — from crying
  17. track — a song
  18. cell — in biology
  19. rock — a stone
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cell — a phone
  24. press — a publisher

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