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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. scale — in music
  3. hand — help
  4. ground — crushed
  5. hand — in cards
  6. ground — the earth
  7. march — the month
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rash — a series
  13. scale — size or range
  14. march — music
  15. press — a publisher
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. ground — a position
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — hasty
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. press — newspapers

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