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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. file — a tool
  5. press — to push
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bark — to shout
  8. mate — a partner
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. plane — a tool
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. file — a document
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — of the year
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. face — to point toward
  22. file — a line of people
  23. face — to confront
  24. press — newspapers

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