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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bound — certain
  4. press — to push
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — for digging
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. object — an aim
  11. press — a publisher
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a partner
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — moving air
  16. press — newspapers
  17. mate — a friend
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a word
  20. bound — obliged
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. object — to protest
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wind — moving air

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