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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. press — to push
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mug — to rob
  8. squash — to crush
  9. net — after costs
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mine — for digging
  12. staff — employees
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mug — a cup
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — in sport
  18. row — a line
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mug — a face
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. press — a publisher
  23. net — for catching
  24. mine — an explosive

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