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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. hand — in cards
  5. last — finally
  6. ball — a great time
  7. spring — of water
  8. press — a publisher
  9. last — to go on
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. hand — help
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rash — a series
  15. press — to push
  16. spring — a coil
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. press — newspapers
  19. rash — hasty
  20. wake — a trail
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. last — final
  24. spring — the season

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