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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — not warm
  5. roll — a cake
  6. clip — a video
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — to handle
  9. ground — the earth
  10. face — to point toward
  11. ground — crushed
  12. press — to push
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. roll — a list
  15. ground — a position
  16. press — newspapers
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — to cut
  21. face — part of the head
  22. rest — what's left
  23. face — to confront
  24. clip — for paper

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