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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. press — newspapers
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — not warm
  7. press — to push
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. row — a line
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. prune — to trim
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. net — for catching
  19. wake — a trail
  20. net — after costs
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. net — in sport

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