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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. mate — a friend
  4. press — newspapers
  5. press — a publisher
  6. season — in sport
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — happy
  9. drill — a practice
  10. content — the amount
  11. season — of the year
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. mate — to breed
  15. drill — the tool
  16. mate — a partner
  17. press — to push
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — army training
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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