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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. press — a publisher
  3. spring — a coil
  4. game — wild animals
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. spring — the season
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. kick — in football
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitch — completely
  15. spring — of water
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. stem — to come from
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. press — newspapers
  21. game — a match
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. fork — to eat with

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