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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. staff — employees
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. court — of a king
  5. staff — employees
  6. press — to push
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — clever
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. rest — a break
  12. court — of law
  13. rest — what's left
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. race — the arms race
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. press — newspapers
  20. court — for sport
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — not warm
  23. press — a publisher
  24. staff — a stick

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