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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — an illness
  5. press — to push
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. court — of law
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. press — a publisher
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. court — of a king
  20. press — newspapers
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. rush — hurry
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. band — a music group

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