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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. pitch — completely
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mug — a face
  5. row — a line
  6. cold — an illness
  7. chest — a box
  8. ball — a dance
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. press — to push
  12. ball — a great time
  13. bear — the animal
  14. mug — a cup
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — newspapers
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bear — the animal
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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