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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. season — of the year
  4. clip — for paper
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — to sink
  7. press — a publisher
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. last — final
  12. press — newspapers
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — to cut
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. capital — a city
  20. clip — a video
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. press — to push
  23. deal — to handle
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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