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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.

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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. press — newspapers
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. saw — the tool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bound — certain
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. season — in sport
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bound — obliged
  16. press — a publisher
  17. season — of the year
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. press — to push
  20. bound — tied together
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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