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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. press — newspapers
  5. tube — the underground
  6. spring — a coil
  7. press — to push
  8. stock — goods
  9. spring — the season
  10. press — a publisher
  11. hand — in cards
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. stock — shares
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. tube — a container
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. court — of a king
  21. hand — help
  22. court — for sport
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — for digging

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