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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. face — to confront
  5. branch — a division
  6. cold — not warm
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — an illness
  9. press — to push
  10. season — in sport
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. season — of the year
  20. foot — a measure
  21. present — a gift
  22. face — to point toward
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — a publisher

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