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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. last — final
  8. court — of a king
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. court — for sport
  13. last — finally
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. last — to go on
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. court — of law
  18. bore — to drill
  19. pound — a weight
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bore — to tire
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wind — moving air
  24. press — newspapers

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