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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. land — ground
  4. march — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. land — to come down
  8. press — to push
  9. land — a country
  10. deal — to handle
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. field — a subject
  13. press — a publisher
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — in football
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. field — farmland
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — a law
  21. march — the month
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cold — an illness
  24. field — for sport

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