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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bear — the animal
  6. hand — help
  7. rush — hurry
  8. shower — to wash
  9. squash — to crush
  10. present — there
  11. hand — in cards
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bat — the animal
  14. present — the time now
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. press — to push
  19. present — a gift
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bear — the animal
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. shower — rain

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