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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 cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. land — a country
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cap — a lid
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. suit — to fit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. press — a publisher
  16. field — for sport
  17. land — to come down
  18. press — to push
  19. suit — in cards
  20. cap — a hat
  21. land — ground
  22. press — newspapers
  23. ground — a position
  24. field — a subject

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