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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fine — all right
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fine — high quality
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. scale — in music
  8. press — to push
  9. cold — an illness
  10. charge — electricity
  11. charge — in control
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. hand — help
  15. scale — size or range
  16. roll — a cake
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. roll — a list
  19. date — the fruit
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. charge — a price
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. date — on the calendar

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