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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bear — the animal
  5. drill — the tool
  6. press — to push
  7. rock — a stone
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rock — music
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wound — an injury
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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