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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. press — to push
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pit — in a race
  5. board — to get on
  6. press — newspapers
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — a line
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. press — a publisher
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pit — a hole
  17. mate — to breed
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. board — a committee
  20. mate — a friend
  21. row — to paddle
  22. mate — a partner
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. degree — an amount

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