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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — child
  4. wind — moving air
  5. press — a publisher
  6. kid — to tease
  7. press — to push
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chip — for betting
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chip — to eat
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bear — the animal
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bear — the animal

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