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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. scale — in music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — an illness
  5. press — to push
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. press — a publisher
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. saw — the tool
  11. capital — money
  12. row — a line
  13. staff — a stick
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. staff — employees
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — not warm
  21. press — newspapers
  22. mine — for digging
  23. saw — the tool
  24. row — to paddle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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