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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fine — all right
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. press — a publisher
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bound — certain
  8. press — to push
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wound — an injury
  15. press — newspapers
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. game — a match
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cold — not warm

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