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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.

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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cold — an illness
  5. club — a group
  6. press — to push
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitch — completely
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. perch — the fish
  11. club — for golf
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. press — newspapers
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. sharp — clever
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. club — for dancing

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