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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.

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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. stock — goods
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. net — after costs
  9. stock — shares
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. mine — for digging
  15. net — in sport
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — a publisher
  18. spring — the season

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