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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. ground — a position
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. press — a publisher
  5. rest — what's left
  6. last — finally
  7. press — to push
  8. ground — crushed
  9. last — to go on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kid — to tease
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rest — a break
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. press — newspapers
  20. kid — child
  21. rest — what's left
  22. last — final
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. ground — the earth

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