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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wound — an injury
  4. press — to push
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spell — magic
  12. tear — to rip
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — a publisher
  18. tear — from crying
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — an injury

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