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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. press — to push
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. scale — in music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. squash — the sport
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. ground — a position
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mine — for digging
  20. ground — the earth
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. ground — crushed
  23. squash — to crush
  24. press — a publisher

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