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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rash — a series
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. mug — a cup
  9. press — a publisher
  10. net — in sport
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. last — finally
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. last — to go on
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. mug — to rob
  21. rash — hasty
  22. mug — a face
  23. press — to push
  24. rash — on the skin

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