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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stand — to bear
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. saw — the tool
  7. press — to push
  8. board — to get on
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mine — for digging
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. press — a publisher
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. cold — not warm
  23. board — a committee
  24. chair — a leader

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