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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 120 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. press — to push
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. current — electric
  7. cap — a hat
  8. current — of water
  9. march — music
  10. press — newspapers
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. march — the month
  13. last — to go on
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. press — a publisher
  16. current — happening now
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pop — soda
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. last — finally
  22. pop — to visit
  23. last — final
  24. pop — music

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