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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. march — the month
  2. staff — employees
  3. squash — to crush
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. march — the month
  7. squash — the sport
  8. press — to push
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. staff — employees
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pit — a hole
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. clip — to cut
  19. press — a publisher
  20. pit — in a race
  21. clip — a video
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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