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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. staff — employees
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spell — letters
  5. press — to push
  6. kid — child
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. stand — to bear
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — not warm
  11. staff — employees
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. staff — a stick
  15. press — a publisher
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mark — a grade
  19. press — newspapers
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. last — finally
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — an illness

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