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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — there
  4. press — to push
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. branch — a division
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rash — a series
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. bore — to tire
  19. press — newspapers
  20. bore — to drill
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. present — the time now

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