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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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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cap — a lid
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. march — the month
  5. press — newspapers
  6. cold — not warm
  7. last — final
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cap — of ice
  11. press — a publisher
  12. last — finally
  13. charge — a price
  14. cold — an illness
  15. game — wild animals
  16. press — to push
  17. charge — electricity
  18. march — music
  19. charge — in control
  20. game — a match
  21. cap — a hat
  22. last — to go on
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitcher — a jug

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