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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. fall — the season
  5. wake — a trail
  6. press — a publisher
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. press — newspapers
  14. kid — to tease
  15. fall — to drop
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. press — to push
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. capital — money
  22. kid — child
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. capital — a city

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