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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. press — a publisher
  3. fine — high quality
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. last — to go on
  6. fine — all right
  7. pound — a weight
  8. ground — a position
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mark — a grade
  11. last — final
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. press — newspapers
  14. kid — to tease
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. kid — child
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mark — a trace
  19. ground — the earth
  20. last — finally
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fine — a penalty

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