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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 116 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. press — a publisher
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — a lid
  8. root — of a plant
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. press — to push
  11. root — of a word
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cold — an illness
  15. can — a tin
  16. press — newspapers
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — not warm
  20. last — final
  21. can — to be able to
  22. cap — of ice
  23. root — the cause
  24. can — a tin

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