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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. file — a document
  3. press — to push
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. capital — money
  6. clip — a video
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a line of people
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. dip — to sink
  13. lean — thin
  14. capital — a city
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cold — not warm
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. press — a publisher
  19. lean — to bend
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rock — music
  22. file — a tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rock — a stone

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