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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. snap — to click
  3. press — to push
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. mark — a trace
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. press — a publisher
  14. mark — a grade
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. press — newspapers
  18. ground — crushed
  19. net — in sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — the animal

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