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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. press — a publisher
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bound — obliged
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. net — after costs
  8. bound — certain
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. season — in sport
  11. press — newspapers
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. press — to push
  14. net — in sport
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wax — to grow
  19. bound — tied together
  20. net — for catching
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pitch — completely
  24. season — of the year

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