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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. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. net — after costs
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cell — in biology
  5. dip — to sink
  6. tear — to rip
  7. charge — in control
  8. wake — a trail
  9. press — a publisher
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. net — in sport
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cell — a phone
  18. net — for catching
  19. charge — a price
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. press — to push
  22. charge — electricity
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. tear — from crying

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