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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. scale — size or range
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. band — a music group
  8. press — newspapers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. band — a ring
  11. lie — to recline
  12. pit — a hole
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. press — a publisher
  15. scale — in music
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. pit — in a race
  19. ground — a position
  20. rock — a stone
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. press — to push
  24. ground — the earth

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