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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. squash — to crush
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. press — newspapers
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. field — farmland
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. rush — hurry
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. sharp — clever
  16. press — to push
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wound — an injury
  20. press — a publisher
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. pitch — completely

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