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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 124 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. row — a line
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. press — newspapers
  8. wax — to grow
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. press — to push
  11. board — a committee
  12. press — a publisher
  13. last — to go on
  14. chip — to eat
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. chip — for betting
  21. row — to paddle
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  24. wound — an injury

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