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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. craft — a skill
  3. press — newspapers
  4. last — final
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — the animal
  10. press — a publisher
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. perch — the fish
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. last — finally
  16. craft — boats
  17. cell — in biology
  18. saw — the tool
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spring — of water
  22. cell — a phone
  23. last — to go on
  24. bat — for baseball

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