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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  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. track — a path
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tear — to rip
  4. press — newspapers
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. ground — a position
  7. spell — letters
  8. ground — crushed
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lean — thin
  13. ground — the earth
  14. press — to push
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. track — to keep track
  17. track — a song
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tear — from crying
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. lean — to bend
  23. press — a publisher
  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