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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. press — a publisher
  3. mate — a partner
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. press — newspapers
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. capital — money
  10. press — to push
  11. mate — to breed
  12. spring — the season
  13. rock — music
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. spring — a coil
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rock — a stone
  20. fork — in a road
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. spring — of water
  24. fork — a garden tool

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