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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mate — to breed
  8. press — to push
  9. pass — a permit
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. mate — a partner
  13. band — a music group
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. band — a ring
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. press — newspapers
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mate — a friend
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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