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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wind — moving air
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. press — a publisher
  11. shower — rain
  12. land — to come down
  13. kick — in football
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fork — in a road
  16. land — a country
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. press — to push
  20. rush — hurry
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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