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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. race — a contest
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ground — the earth
  7. face — to confront
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. race — the arms race
  11. ground — crushed
  12. press — a publisher
  13. race — humankind
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. face — to point toward
  18. press — to push
  19. pitch — completely
  20. press — newspapers
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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