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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. press — a publisher
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. scale — size or range
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. press — to push
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. land — to come down
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. mark — a trace
  13. march — the month
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. march — music
  17. press — newspapers
  18. land — a country
  19. march — the month
  20. scale — in music
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mark — a grade
  24. land — ground

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