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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. scale — size or range
  4. press — to push
  5. last — finally
  6. last — to go on
  7. ground — a position
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mark — a grade
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. scale — in music
  14. mark — a trace
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. last — final
  18. pound — a weight
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. tear — from crying
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. tear — to rip
  24. swing — music

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