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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. track — to keep track
  7. wax — to grow
  8. shower — rain
  9. bear — the animal
  10. track — a path
  11. bear — the animal
  12. press — newspapers
  13. content — happy
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. content — the amount
  16. chest — of your body
  17. track — a song
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spring — of water
  23. chest — a box
  24. press — to push

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