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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · bat · wake · present · mine · pit · press · rock

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. wake — a trail
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — music
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pit — a hole
  13. present — a gift
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. present — there
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rock — a stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. present — the time now
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — the animal
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — to push
  24. bat — in an idiom

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