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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. row — to paddle
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — money
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. object — a thing
  9. band — a ring
  10. drill — a practice
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — not warm
  13. row — a line
  14. object — to protest
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — part of the head
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. press — to push
  21. object — an aim
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — newspapers

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