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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. press — a publisher
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. press — to push
  6. bass — low music
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. race — the arms race
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. deal — to handle
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — a contest
  14. drill — a practice
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mine — for digging
  18. race — humankind
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bass — the fish
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. drill — army training
  24. bat — the animal

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