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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. last — final
  6. cold — not warm
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. row — to paddle
  11. last — finally
  12. mug — a face
  13. net — after costs
  14. last — to go on
  15. press — to push
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mug — to rob
  19. press — newspapers
  20. net — in sport
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. mug — a cup
  23. cell — a phone
  24. press — a publisher

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