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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a cup
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. ground — the earth
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. press — a publisher
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — a position
  21. mug — a face
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pass — a permit

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