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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. ground — a position
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. press — to push
  5. ground — crushed
  6. perch — the fish
  7. ground — the earth
  8. fall — the season
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — an illness
  13. track — a path
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. track — to keep track
  16. fall — to drop
  17. press — a publisher
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. fall — to drop
  22. press — newspapers
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. cold — not warm

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