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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. ball — a dance
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pit — a hole
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. press — a publisher
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — newspapers
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ball — a great time
  22. pit — in a race
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cap — a hat

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