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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. kid — child
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. press — to push
  6. file — a document
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. file — a tool
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a grade
  13. craft — a skill
  14. tear — from crying
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. craft — boats
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — a phone
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — a publisher

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