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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. land — ground
  5. press — to push
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. spell — letters
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wake — a trail
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. wind — moving air
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wind — moving air
  15. press — a publisher
  16. land — a country
  17. dip — to sink
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. spell — magic
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. land — to come down

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