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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. scale — size or range
  3. fine — high quality
  4. chip — to eat
  5. track — to keep track
  6. shower — rain
  7. press — a publisher
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — to push
  12. chip — for betting
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a song
  16. press — newspapers
  17. scale — in music
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. track — a path
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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