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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 water is too ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. staff — employees
  3. field — for sport
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. fine — all right
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. fine — high quality
  8. staff — a stick
  9. press — a publisher
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. press — to push
  12. field — farmland
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. scale — in music
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. press — newspapers
  18. staff — employees
  19. field — a subject
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. plane — a tool
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. scale — size or range
  24. cold — the Cold War

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