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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. land — a country
  3. mate — to breed
  4. shower — rain
  5. press — a publisher
  6. bound — obliged
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cell — a phone
  9. prune — to trim
  10. face — part of the head
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bound — tied together
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mate — a partner
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bound — certain
  21. land — to come down
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. land — ground
  24. face — to confront

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