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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. net — in sport
  5. pop — music
  6. spring — a coil
  7. net — after costs
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. press — a publisher
  10. net — for catching
  11. spring — the season
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. pop — soda
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. press — newspapers
  21. spring — of water
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. kick — in football
  24. pop — to visit

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