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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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Word bank
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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: bat · craft · press · cell · tear · tube

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. craft — boats
  3. press — to push
  4. cell — a phone
  5. press — a publisher
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cell — in biology
  15. tube — a container
  16. press — newspapers
  17. craft — a skill
  18. tear — to rip

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