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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — the arms race
  6. cold — not warm
  7. press — to push
  8. wound — an injury
  9. race — humankind
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — a contest
  12. ground — crushed
  13. face — part of the head
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — to play on
  18. press — newspapers
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. face — to confront
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — a position

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