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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — the season
  5. press — a publisher
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. press — to push
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. current — electric
  11. current — of water
  12. spring — of water
  13. press — newspapers
  14. current — happening now
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. spring — a coil
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stand — to bear
  24. stand — on your feet

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