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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kid — to tease
  11. squash — the sport
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. staff — employees
  15. squash — to crush
  16. press — to push
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. row — a line
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — an illness
  21. staff — employees
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. wind — to turn a key

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