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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. press — to push
  5. ball — a great time
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. staff — employees
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. staff — employees
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. press — a publisher
  18. mark — a grade
  19. staff — a stick
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stem — to come from
  23. mark — a trace
  24. stem — a stem cell

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