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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. press — a publisher
  3. spell — magic
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. spell — a short time
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. press — newspapers
  9. tube — a container
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bass — the fish
  15. press — to push
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. craft — a skill
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — letters
  23. craft — boats
  24. tear — from crying

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