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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. race — a contest
  3. cold — not warm
  4. press — a publisher
  5. spring — a coil
  6. court — of law
  7. spring — of water
  8. court — of a king
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. spring — the season
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. fine — all right
  13. press — to push
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. court — for sport
  21. press — newspapers
  22. fine — high quality
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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