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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. press — a publisher
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cap — a hat
  6. object — an aim
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rule — a law
  9. track — a song
  10. press — to push
  11. track — a path
  12. object — a thing
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. cap — of ice
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cap — a lid
  20. rule — government
  21. press — newspapers
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. track — to keep track

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