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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. march — the month
  10. root — the cause
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. key — for a lock
  13. root — of a plant
  14. press — to push
  15. march — music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. march — the month
  18. key — the most important part
  19. press — newspapers
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. root — of a word
  23. key — in music
  24. drill — army training

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