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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cap — a hat
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. saw — the tool
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — to get on
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — to push
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cap — a lid
  14. tear — to rip
  15. net — after costs
  16. saw — the tool
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — of ice
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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