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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 124 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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. press — to push
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pit — in a race
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a song
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — newspapers
  22. track — a path
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. mine — for digging

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