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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 120 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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468
Word bank
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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bark — to shout
  3. fine — all right
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. pass — a permit
  10. fine — high quality
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. wound — an injury
  13. press — a publisher
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. press — to push
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wound — an injury
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pass — to succeed

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