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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. firm — decided
  3. last — final
  4. press — newspapers
  5. spring — the season
  6. firm — a company
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pop — soda
  12. spring — of water
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. pop — to visit
  15. shower — rain
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pop — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — finally
  20. press — a publisher
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. press — to push
  23. firm — steady
  24. cold — not warm

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