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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spell — letters
  4. press — to push
  5. spell — a short time
  6. board — to get on
  7. press — a publisher
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. spell — magic
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — army training
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. drill — a practice
  19. press — newspapers
  20. board — a committee
  21. net — in sport
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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