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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 124 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 meat?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. kick — in football
  4. season — in sport
  5. bear — the animal
  6. press — a publisher
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. perch — the fish
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. press — to push
  15. season — of the year
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bear — the animal
  24. file — a document

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