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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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. face — to point toward
  4. face — part of the head
  5. mate — to breed
  6. snap — to click
  7. key — in music
  8. press — a publisher
  9. face — to confront
  10. mate — a friend
  11. key — the most important part
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mate — a partner
  14. key — for a lock
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. press — newspapers

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