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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 water is too ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. mate — a friend
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. mate — to breed
  8. game — wild animals
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. game — a match
  11. press — a publisher
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. press — newspapers
  14. mate — a partner
  15. press — to push
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — an illness

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