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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mark — a trace
  6. scale — in music
  7. rash — hasty
  8. press — newspapers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. mark — a grade
  12. press — to push
  13. rash — a series
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. spell — letters
  20. scale — size or range
  21. spell — a short time
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spell — magic

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