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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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. press — to push
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — a country
  5. press — newspapers
  6. mate — to breed
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. press — a publisher
  11. land — ground
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mate — a friend
  15. ball — a great time
  16. face — to confront
  17. ground — a position
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. mate — a partner
  23. ball — a dance
  24. land — to come down

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