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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — to go on
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. perch — the fish
  6. staff — employees
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. staff — a stick
  11. press — to push
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — finally
  15. staff — employees
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. press — newspapers
  19. bat — the animal
  20. last — final
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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