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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. row — to paddle
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. press — a publisher
  14. scale — in music
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. bass — low music
  17. shower — rain
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. press — newspapers
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cold — not warm

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