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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rush — hurry
  3. court — for sport
  4. press — to push
  5. court — of law
  6. court — of a king
  7. snap — to click
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — the animal
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. race — humankind
  12. tube — the underground
  13. press — newspapers
  14. shower — to wash
  15. tube — a container
  16. race — a contest
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rush — a thrill

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