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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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468
Word bank
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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. spring — of water
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — a measure
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. spring — a coil
  10. press — newspapers
  11. court — for sport
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. court — of law
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. court — of a king
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. spring — the season
  22. kick — in football
  23. fork — in a road
  24. press — a publisher

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