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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ground — a position
  3. clip — to cut
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. clip — a video
  14. press — to push
  15. bulb — for light
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. press — newspapers
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wind — moving air
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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