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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. press — to push
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — child
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. fine — all right
  9. press — a publisher
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pop — to visit
  14. perch — the fish
  15. pop — music
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — newspapers
  20. sharp — clever
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pop — soda

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