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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. roll — a cake
  3. roll — a list
  4. swing — in golf
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. file — a tool
  7. press — a publisher
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. press — to push
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. tear — from crying
  18. swing — music
  19. tear — to rip
  20. swing — to play on
  21. season — of the year
  22. season — in sport
  23. tear — from crying
  24. press — newspapers

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