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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. fall — to drop
  4. press — to push
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. drill — army training
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — to drop
  12. press — a publisher
  13. game — a match
  14. drill — the tool
  15. suit — in cards
  16. suit — clothes
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fall — the season
  19. suit — to fit
  20. wax — to grow
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — a practice

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