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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 116 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: press · shower · coach · file · scale · pound · net · calf

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. net — after costs
  7. press — to push
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. net — for catching
  10. press — newspapers
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. scale — in music
  14. pound — a weight
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. shower — to wash
  18. net — in sport
  19. shower — rain
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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