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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. press — a publisher
  3. net — for catching
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. press — to push
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — to cut
  9. net — after costs
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. pound — a weight
  15. press — newspapers
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. shower — rain
  19. net — in sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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