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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. drill — a practice
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. chest — of your body
  5. press — a publisher
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. row — a line
  8. drill — the tool
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. press — newspapers
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. press — to push
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. row — to paddle
  19. drill — army training
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. chest — a box
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. wave — with your hand

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