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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. press — a publisher
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — a group
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — to push
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — newspapers

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