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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. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. scale — size or range
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. bat — the animal
  12. board — to get on
  13. scale — in music
  14. present — a gift
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mark — a grade
  20. present — the time now
  21. cold — not warm
  22. present — there
  23. mark — a trace
  24. board — a committee

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