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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. capital — a city
  3. dip — to sink
  4. cell — in biology
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. spell — a short time
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rest — a break
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rest — what's left
  14. spell — letters
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. snap — to click
  17. wind — moving air
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. capital — money
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rest — what's left
  24. spell — magic

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