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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. press — to push
  4. present — a gift
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. press — newspapers
  8. present — the time now
  9. wound — an injury
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. bear — the animal
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. cold — an illness
  15. capital — money
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. bear — the animal
  18. press — a publisher
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. capital — a city
  24. present — there

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