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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pass — a permit
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. press — a publisher
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rule — a law
  15. degree — an amount
  16. field — farmland
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — to push
  20. rule — government
  21. cue — a hint
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. press — newspapers

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