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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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 — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. press — to push
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. mate — a friend
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mate — to breed
  13. clip — for paper
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — for digging
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. press — newspapers
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bulb — for light
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. clip — a video
  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