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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 120 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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. press — a publisher
  4. spring — a coil
  5. press — to push
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. present — there
  8. press — newspapers
  9. net — for catching
  10. squash — the sport
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. present — a gift
  13. spring — the season
  14. net — after costs
  15. spring — of water
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. present — the time now
  19. net — in sport
  20. stem — to come from
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. chest — of your body

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