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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. court — of law
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — soda
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. press — a publisher
  9. scale — in music
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pop — to visit
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. scale — size or range
  18. press — to push
  19. present — the time now
  20. pop — music
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — for sport
  23. present — there
  24. scale — for weighing

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