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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pound — a weight
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. season — in sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. stand — to bear
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wind — moving air
  11. season — of the year
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. press — a publisher
  18. scale — size or range
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. scale — in music
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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