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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 116 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're almost out of ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. pop — music
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. chair — a leader
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. race — a contest
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pop — to visit
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. race — humankind
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. press — newspapers

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