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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. press — a publisher
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. press — to push
  7. mark — a grade
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mark — a trace
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. press — newspapers
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. hand — in cards

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