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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. press — to push
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. season — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. press — newspapers
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pop — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. press — a publisher
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda

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