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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. march — music
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. press — a publisher
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. deal — to handle
  12. march — the month
  13. press — to push
  14. cold — an illness
  15. squash — the sport
  16. mate — to breed
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bear — the animal
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. press — newspapers
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. march — the month

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