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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. capital — money
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. last — to go on
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. mine — for digging
  12. capital — a city
  13. net — for catching
  14. last — final
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. press — newspapers
  18. pound — a weight
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. last — finally

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