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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. kid — to tease
  3. court — of law
  4. press — to push
  5. fall — the season
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. kid — child
  9. rest — a break
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. spring — a coil
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. craft — a skill
  16. spring — the season
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. press — newspapers
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rest — what's left
  24. spring — of water

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