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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pop — music
  4. bank — for money
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. content — the amount
  9. pop — to visit
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. press — a publisher
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. land — ground
  15. press — to push
  16. content — happy
  17. bank — of a river
  18. pop — soda
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. game — wild animals
  21. land — a country
  22. bank — for money
  23. land — to come down
  24. press — newspapers

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