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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. press — to push
  3. capital — money
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. capital — a city
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — for dancing
  9. press — a publisher
  10. club — for golf
  11. ball — a dance
  12. deal — to handle
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. ball — a great time
  16. club — a group
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. shower — to wash
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. shower — rain
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stem — to come from
  24. deal — a big deal

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