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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. court — of a king
  4. saw — the tool
  5. press — a publisher
  6. court — of law
  7. press — newspapers
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. row — a line
  14. press — to push
  15. row — to paddle
  16. mine — for digging
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. court — for sport

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