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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. press — a publisher
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. field — for sport
  5. shower — rain
  6. field — farmland
  7. season — of the year
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cold — not warm
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. shower — to wash
  17. season — in sport
  18. press — to push
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. press — newspapers
  22. lie — to recline
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. field — a subject

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