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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. file — a tool
  3. press — newspapers
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. file — a document
  6. sharp — clever
  7. snap — to click
  8. capital — money
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — a city
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — a line
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. face — to point toward
  18. bore — to tire
  19. face — to confront
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bore — to drill
  23. press — a publisher
  24. face — part of the head

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