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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rock — music
  3. press — a publisher
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. spring — the season
  6. press — newspapers
  7. ground — the earth
  8. rock — a stone
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cap — of ice
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — magic
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. ground — a position
  16. cap — a lid
  17. press — to push
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — a short time
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. spring — of water
  23. kid — child
  24. ground — crushed

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