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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ruler · bore · last · cold · file · chair · press · mine

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bore — to tire
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. cold — an illness
  14. file — a tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bore — to drill
  17. last — final
  18. last — finally
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cold — not warm
  21. last — to go on
  22. press — newspapers
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. file — a document

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