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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 120 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. pop — soda
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. pop — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. tear — to rip
  16. press — newspapers
  17. pop — to visit
  18. wind — to turn a key

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