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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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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fall — to drop
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. last — finally
  5. field — farmland
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. press — to push
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. last — to go on
  13. land — ground
  14. pit — a hole
  15. press — newspapers
  16. last — final
  17. fall — the season
  18. pit — in a race
  19. land — a country
  20. field — for sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. field — a subject
  23. fall — to drop
  24. snap — to click

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