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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. present — the time now
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pit — a hole
  7. press — a publisher
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. march — the month
  11. press — to push
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. present — there
  14. press — newspapers
  15. present — a gift
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. march — music
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pit — in a race
  24. mine — for digging

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