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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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 — a publisher
  2. mug — a cup
  3. press — to push
  4. can — a tin
  5. field — a subject
  6. can — a tin
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spring — of water
  10. snap — to click
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — to crush
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — the season
  16. field — for sport
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. can — to be able to
  19. field — farmland
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. spring — a coil
  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