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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — a path
  3. cold — an illness
  4. hand — in cards
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — of water
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. spring — a coil
  10. press — newspapers
  11. fine — all right
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. press — a publisher
  15. season — of the year
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. press — to push
  18. drill — the tool
  19. fine — high quality
  20. spring — the season
  21. track — to keep track
  22. drill — army training
  23. hand — help
  24. cold — not warm

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