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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. staff — employees
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. staff — a stick
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. drill — the tool
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cap — a hat
  18. press — newspapers
  19. cap — a lid
  20. ball — a dance
  21. drill — army training
  22. cell — in biology
  23. staff — employees
  24. wake — a trail

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