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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. press — to push
  4. land — ground
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. land — to come down
  12. bat — the animal
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — not warm
  15. land — a country
  16. wax — to grow
  17. pop — to visit
  18. stand — to bear
  19. pop — soda
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pop — music
  24. press — a publisher

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