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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cap — a hat
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hand — help
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. press — to push
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. spring — of water
  13. cap — of ice
  14. hand — in cards
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. press — newspapers
  17. spring — the season
  18. fan — a supporter

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