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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tear — from crying
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. tear — from crying
  16. press — newspapers
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chip — to eat
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pass — a permit
  24. chip — for betting

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