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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 120 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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. rock — music
  5. press — to push
  6. press — a publisher
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. can — to be able to
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. row — a line
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. march — the month
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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