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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. rest — a break
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spell — a short time
  4. row — to paddle
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. row — a line
  7. court — of law
  8. rest — what's left
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. spell — letters
  11. mine — for digging
  12. saw — the tool
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. court — for sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. press — to push
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stem — to come from
  21. court — of a king
  22. saw — the tool
  23. press — newspapers
  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