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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. spring — the season
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mine — for digging
  5. press — a publisher
  6. pop — music
  7. present — there
  8. spring — of water
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. ground — the earth
  11. file — a document
  12. pop — soda
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. press — to push
  15. ground — a position
  16. present — the time now
  17. lean — thin
  18. press — newspapers
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. file — a tool
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ground — crushed
  23. present — a gift
  24. lean — to bend

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