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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cold — an illness
  4. press — a publisher
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. row — a line
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — not warm
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. march — music
  12. chip — for betting
  13. press — newspapers
  14. last — finally
  15. press — to push
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mine — for digging
  18. deal — to handle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. march — the month
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. chip — to eat
  24. march — the month

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