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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 120 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. file — a document
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — music
  8. cell — a phone
  9. content — the amount
  10. march — the month
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. cell — in biology
  13. dip — to sink
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. press — newspapers
  17. board — to get on
  18. press — to push
  19. march — the month
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cold — not warm
  24. board — a committee

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