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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.

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: bark · rest · press · straw · bore · tube · game · staff

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. rest — a break
  4. game — a match
  5. bark — to shout
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. press — to push
  8. bore — to drill
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. tube — a container
  11. staff — a stick
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. game — wild animals
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rest — what's left
  19. staff — employees
  20. press — newspapers
  21. tube — the underground
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. rest — what's left
  24. press — a publisher

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