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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mate — a partner
  4. current — electric
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wind — moving air
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. press — newspapers
  9. mate — a friend
  10. current — of water
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. press — a publisher
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mate — to breed
  17. snap — to click
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wax — to grow
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. current — happening now
  23. rest — a break
  24. bat — in an idiom

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