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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. press — to push
  3. march — music
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. race — humankind
  6. spell — a short time
  7. roll — a list
  8. race — a contest
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. press — a publisher
  14. march — the month
  15. mate — a friend
  16. roll — a cake
  17. mate — a partner
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spell — magic
  21. march — the month
  22. mate — to breed
  23. press — newspapers
  24. leaves — of a tree

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