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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bank — for money
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bank — for money
  6. spell — magic
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — of a king
  9. cue — a hint
  10. field — a subject
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spell — letters
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. press — to push
  17. field — for sport
  18. ground — a position
  19. court — of law
  20. bank — of a river
  21. cue — for pool
  22. spell — a short time
  23. court — for sport
  24. press — a publisher

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