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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. press — a publisher
  4. bank — of a river
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — for money
  8. press — to push
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — to get on
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. court — of a king

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