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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · press · cold · safe · chest · file

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — newspapers
  7. chest — a box
  8. file — a tool
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. press — to push
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — a publisher
  13. file — a document
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring

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