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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spring — a coil
  4. firm — decided
  5. firm — steady
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. field — for sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. field — a subject
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. field — farmland
  18. press — a publisher
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. spring — of water
  21. press — newspapers
  22. firm — a company
  23. cold — an illness
  24. press — to push

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