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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — the earth
  7. season — in sport
  8. capital — money
  9. ground — a position
  10. capital — a city
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. ground — crushed
  13. press — a publisher
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. press — to push
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. season — of the year
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. mine — for digging
  24. press — newspapers

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