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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. land — a country
  5. spring — of water
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. spring — the season
  10. press — to push
  11. net — for catching
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. scale — size or range
  15. land — ground
  16. scale — in music
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — a straw man

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