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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cold — an illness
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. press — newspapers
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. content — the amount
  11. wax — to grow
  12. capital — money
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. press — to push
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. press — a publisher
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. capital — a city
  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