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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. pound — a weight
  6. stem — to come from
  7. spell — a short time
  8. tear — from crying
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spell — letters
  16. press — newspapers
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. spell — magic
  21. saw — the tool
  22. kick — in football
  23. press — a publisher
  24. tear — to rip

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