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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wound — an injury
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. row — a line
  9. board — to get on
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. press — a publisher
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. board — a committee
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. stem — to come from
  21. press — newspapers
  22. kid — child
  23. pound — a weight
  24. kid — to tease

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