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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. drill — the tool
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. sharp — clever
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. drill — army training
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. cold — an illness
  16. press — newspapers
  17. bat — the animal
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. court — of law
  20. kick — in football
  21. press — to push
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bat — in an idiom

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