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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bass — the fish
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — the season
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. key — the most important part
  9. press — newspapers
  10. spring — of water
  11. press — to push
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. cap — of ice
  15. key — in music
  16. cap — a hat
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bass — low music
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cold — not warm

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