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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 124 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 function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. march — music
  3. press — a publisher
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spring — of water
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. dip — to sink
  11. kid — child
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — a coil
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. spring — the season
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. press — to push
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. fork — in a road
  24. kid — to tease

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