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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. drill — a practice
  3. prune — to trim
  4. drill — the tool
  5. press — to push
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. press — a publisher
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. hand — help
  11. prune — to trim
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hand — in cards
  17. drill — army training
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. press — newspapers
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kick — a thrill

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