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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cold — an illness
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — newspapers
  8. net — after costs
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. press — to push
  11. bass — the fish
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bass — low music
  14. net — in sport
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. net — for catching
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bulb — of a plant

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