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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: straw · mine · bear · press · file · bore · content · cell

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bear — the animal
  5. press — newspapers
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a tool
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. content — happy
  12. bore — to tire
  13. press — to push
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. press — a publisher
  24. bear — the animal

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