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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 120 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — farmland
  5. press — newspapers
  6. field — a subject
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — an illness
  10. deal — to handle
  11. rash — a series
  12. bank — of a river
  13. press — to push
  14. field — for sport
  15. bank — for money
  16. swing — to play on
  17. bank — for money
  18. ground — a position
  19. swing — music
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ground — the earth
  23. rash — hasty
  24. swing — in golf

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