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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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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: coach · pit · mark · cell · press · perch · rush · bay

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. pit — in a race
  14. press — a publisher
  15. mark — a trace
  16. perch — the fish
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mark — a grade
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cell — in biology
  24. coach — a trainer

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