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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. press — a publisher
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. game — a match
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. press — to push
  10. board — to get on
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. snap — to click
  15. board — a committee
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — to keep track
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. track — a song
  22. game — wild animals
  23. press — newspapers
  24. tube — a container

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