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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 function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. press — to push
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — not warm
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spring — of water
  13. press — a publisher
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. face — part of the head
  21. march — the month
  22. dip — to sink
  23. spring — the season
  24. face — to confront

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