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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. rash — hasty
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wound — an injury
  6. file — a tool
  7. spring — of water
  8. wind — moving air
  9. press — newspapers
  10. press — to push
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. rash — a series
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. spring — a coil
  21. press — a publisher
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. pitch — completely
  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