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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fine — high quality
  3. march — the month
  4. press — a publisher
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. press — to push
  7. mine — for digging
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. fine — all right
  11. march — the month
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. net — in sport
  18. ground — the earth
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. press — newspapers
  24. march — music

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