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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. squash — to crush
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. press — to push
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. face — to point toward
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. face — part of the head
  16. perch — the fish
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. press — a publisher
  19. face — to confront
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rush — hurry
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. press — newspapers
  24. kick — in football

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