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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. last — final
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bound — certain
  6. press — to push
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. cold — not warm
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — finally
  16. press — a publisher
  17. bound — tied together
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. last — to go on
  20. sharp — clever
  21. press — newspapers
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bound — obliged
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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