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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. capital — a city
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. press — to push
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pit — in a race
  11. press — newspapers
  12. pit — a hole
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. capital — money
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. mark — a grade
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mark — a trace
  24. cold — the Cold War

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