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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bass — the fish
  5. stem — to come from
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. snap — to click
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bear — the animal
  18. press — to push
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pound — for dogs

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