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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. field — for sport
  4. saw — the tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — of your body
  9. field — a subject
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pass — a permit
  12. row — a line
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. chest — of your body
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — to push
  18. plane — a tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. chest — a box
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. field — farmland

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