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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wound — an injury
  3. press — a publisher
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rule — government
  6. press — to push
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. kid — child
  9. net — for catching
  10. wind — moving air
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. bark — to shout
  18. net — in sport
  19. rule — a law
  20. press — newspapers
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wind — moving air
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. net — after costs

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