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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. press — a publisher
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. last — final
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. net — for catching
  8. bat — the animal
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. press — newspapers
  11. last — finally
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. press — to push
  16. net — in sport
  17. kick — in football
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a music group
  20. net — after costs
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. last — to go on

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