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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. saw — the tool
  3. march — the month
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. press — to push
  10. rule — a law
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. march — the month
  14. press — newspapers
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. press — a publisher
  22. march — music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. rule — government

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