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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cap — a hat
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. press — newspapers
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — soda
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. pop — music
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. chest — a box
  19. capital — a city
  20. bark — to shout
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. capital — money
  23. game — a match
  24. press — to push

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