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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fine — all right
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bank — of a river
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. game — a match
  11. bank — for money
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. press — to push
  16. bank — for money
  17. fine — high quality
  18. hand — in cards
  19. spring — the season
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. press — newspapers
  22. snap — to click
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. spring — of water

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