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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. game — wild animals
  3. last — to go on
  4. press — newspapers
  5. last — final
  6. press — a publisher
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. last — finally
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. content — happy
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cap — of ice

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