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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. game — a match
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — for paper
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rash — a series
  11. face — part of the head
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. rash — hasty
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. clip — a video
  17. face — to confront
  18. bear — the animal
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bear — the animal
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rash — on the skin

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