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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.

Make a worksheet

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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. press — a publisher
  4. row — a line
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chest — of your body
  10. press — newspapers
  11. press — to push
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — an illness
  14. game — wild animals
  15. spell — letters
  16. chest — a box
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. chest — of your body
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. game — a match
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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