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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. bound — obliged
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — high quality
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. press — to push
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. hand — help
  20. board — to get on
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  24. cold — the Cold War

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