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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 116 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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cold — an illness
  3. press — to push
  4. stem — to come from
  5. row — to paddle
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. band — a music group
  8. firm — a company
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. firm — decided
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. press — a publisher
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. press — newspapers
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. firm — steady
  19. row — a line
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. pass — a permit
  24. band — a ring

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