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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. press — a publisher
  3. ball — a great time
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pop — music
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mine — for digging
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — help
  14. pop — to visit
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. press — to push
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. game — a match
  20. ball — a dance
  21. pop — soda
  22. press — newspapers
  23. saw — the tool
  24. game — wild animals

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