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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. drill — army training
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. press — a publisher
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. press — to push
  10. press — newspapers
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. drill — a practice
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. dip — to sink
  18. drill — the tool
  19. game — a match
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. game — wild animals
  22. face — part of the head
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. game — a kind of play

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