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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 120 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. vault — a safe
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. rule — government
  5. cold — not warm
  6. staff — employees
  7. press — to push
  8. staff — employees
  9. press — a publisher
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — in sport
  14. lean — to bend
  15. net — after costs
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. lean — thin
  19. spell — letters
  20. staff — a stick
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — newspapers

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