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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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. object — to protest
  4. cell — a phone
  5. press — a publisher
  6. game — wild animals
  7. kick — in football
  8. object — a thing
  9. wound — an injury
  10. object — an aim
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. game — a match
  13. wound — an injury
  14. drill — a practice
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. drill — army training
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cell — in biology
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. press — newspapers
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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