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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. present — a gift
  3. spell — a short time
  4. field — for sport
  5. lean — thin
  6. press — a publisher
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. current — of water
  10. press — to push
  11. spell — magic
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. press — newspapers
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. current — happening now
  19. field — farmland
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spell — letters
  22. current — electric
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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