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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. cap — a hat
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cap — a lid
  6. chip — to eat
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cap — of ice
  9. drill — the tool
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. drill — a practice
  12. chip — for betting
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. spell — letters
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. drill — army training
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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