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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. perch — the fish
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. press — newspapers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. root — of a word
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. press — a publisher
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. root — the cause
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. root — of a plant
  23. cold — an illness
  24. press — to push

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