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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bat — the animal
  6. season — in sport
  7. capital — money
  8. wind — moving air
  9. press — newspapers
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wind — moving air
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. press — to push
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. capital — a city
  20. mate — to breed
  21. band — a ring
  22. season — of the year
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. press — a publisher

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