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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. pop — to visit
  3. field — farmland
  4. shower — rain
  5. snap — to click
  6. spring — the season
  7. press — to push
  8. pop — soda
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. field — a subject
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — to shout
  14. deal — to handle
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. press — newspapers
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pop — music
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. field — for sport

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