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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wound — an injury
  4. net — for catching
  5. game — wild animals
  6. press — to push
  7. net — in sport
  8. track — a song
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. game — a match
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. track — to keep track
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. track — a path
  19. dip — to sink
  20. net — after costs
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. press — newspapers
  24. last — finally

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