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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. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. deal — to handle
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. court — for sport
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. court — of a king
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — newspapers
  11. clip — for paper
  12. spring — of water
  13. press — to push
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. clip — a video
  19. spring — the season
  20. court — of law
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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