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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. march — music
  9. last — finally
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. press — a publisher
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. tear — from crying
  16. last — final
  17. press — newspapers
  18. march — the month
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. last — to go on
  21. wind — moving air
  22. press — to push
  23. march — the month
  24. bowl — to roll

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