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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. drill — army training
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. last — finally
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a dance
  9. pit — a hole
  10. sharp — clever
  11. last — to go on
  12. wound — an injury
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ball — a great time
  18. press — newspapers
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. last — final
  23. pit — in a race
  24. drill — a practice

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