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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. press — a publisher
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. swing — to play on
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. kid — child
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — help
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. swing — music
  20. dip — to sink
  21. hand — in cards
  22. swing — in golf
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mine — for digging

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