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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — the animal
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pop — to visit
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. press — newspapers
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pop — soda
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. land — a country
  18. swing — music
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — ground
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pop — music

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