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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. press — to push
  3. last — to go on
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — finally
  8. drill — a practice
  9. capital — a city
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. fall — to drop
  12. net — for catching
  13. kid — to tease
  14. fall — to drop
  15. net — in sport
  16. kid — child
  17. net — after costs
  18. press — a publisher
  19. fall — the season
  20. press — newspapers
  21. last — final
  22. capital — money
  23. drill — the tool
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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