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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 ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — not warm
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spring — the season
  7. wound — an injury
  8. file — a tool
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — in cards
  11. file — a document
  12. press — newspapers
  13. spring — of water
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hand — help
  17. lean — to bend
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — an illness
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. lean — thin
  24. spring — a coil

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