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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. net — for catching
  4. kick — in football
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spell — magic
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cell — a phone
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. spell — letters
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. cell — in biology
  17. last — final
  18. press — a publisher
  19. fork — in a road
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. press — newspapers
  23. spell — a short time
  24. kick — with a leg

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