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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 120 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 refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. rush — hurry
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to click
  5. cell — a phone
  6. file — a document
  7. game — a match
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mug — a face
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cell — in biology
  17. file — a tool
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. file — a line of people
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. mug — to rob
  24. rush — a thrill

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