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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. press — a publisher
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. press — to push
  6. fork — in a road
  7. ground — crushed
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. shower — rain
  10. press — newspapers
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ground — a position
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. club — for dancing
  15. wound — an injury
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. wound — an injury
  18. club — for golf
  19. march — music
  20. ground — the earth
  21. club — a group
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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