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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. press — a publisher
  3. last — final
  4. track — a path
  5. court — of law
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. track — a song
  8. mug — a face
  9. press — to push
  10. mug — to rob
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. present — there
  14. last — to go on
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mug — a cup
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. present — a gift
  20. last — finally
  21. track — to keep track
  22. court — of a king
  23. press — newspapers
  24. present — the time now

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