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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pass — a permit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. press — a publisher
  13. key — the most important part
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — to push
  24. face — to confront

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