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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bear — the animal
  3. last — final
  4. press — a publisher
  5. game — a match
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spell — a short time
  9. last — to go on
  10. bore — to tire
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. swing — music
  14. spell — letters
  15. bore — to drill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — finally
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bear — the animal
  24. spell — magic

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