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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. rash — hasty
  4. press — to push
  5. rash — a series
  6. row — a line
  7. rest — what's left
  8. capital — a city
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. lean — thin
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — a break
  14. game — a match
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. lean — to bend
  17. capital — money
  18. rest — what's left
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — a publisher
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. capital — a big letter

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