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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cold — not warm
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. press — newspapers
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. press — a publisher
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. fine — high quality
  9. court — of a king
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spring — the season
  15. press — to push
  16. spring — of water
  17. dip — to sink
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — of law
  24. stem — to come from

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