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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cap — a lid
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. race — a contest
  7. march — the month
  8. race — humankind
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. press — to push
  17. cap — of ice
  18. march — the month
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cold — not warm
  22. race — the arms race
  23. march — music
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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