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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. swing — music
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bore — to drill
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. wind — moving air
  14. file — a tool
  15. snap — to click
  16. bore — to tire
  17. file — a line of people
  18. press — to push
  19. press — newspapers
  20. season — in sport
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. file — a document
  23. swing — in golf
  24. season — to add flavour

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