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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pass — a permit
  4. season — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. press — newspapers
  10. clip — to cut
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. season — of the year
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cap — a hat
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — to push
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stand — to bear
  23. cap — a lid
  24. press — a publisher

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