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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 124 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 will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. firm — a company
  5. spring — the season
  6. firm — steady
  7. press — a publisher
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — of water
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. firm — decided
  13. press — newspapers
  14. ground — a position
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. press — to push
  22. ground — the earth
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. ground — crushed

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