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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. last — finally
  4. press — to push
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. current — happening now
  7. squash — to crush
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wind — moving air
  10. press — newspapers
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. current — of water
  14. bound — obliged
  15. capital — money
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. current — electric
  20. last — to go on
  21. squash — the sport
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — final
  24. bound — tied together

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