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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. press — to push
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. can — to be able to
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a signal
  9. press — a publisher
  10. band — a music group
  11. cold — an illness
  12. can — a tin
  13. stem — to come from
  14. degree — an amount
  15. last — to go on
  16. press — newspapers
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — from a university
  19. can — a tin
  20. cue — a hint
  21. degree — temperature
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. last — final

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