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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — a subject
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. shower — to wash
  9. roll — a cake
  10. field — for sport
  11. mate — to breed
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. field — farmland
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. mate — a friend
  21. press — to push
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wake — a trail

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