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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cell — in biology
  4. press — a publisher
  5. capital — a city
  6. cell — a phone
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. capital — money
  10. shower — rain
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — to bear
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. shower — to wash
  16. press — to push
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — newspapers
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. rush — to hurry

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