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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cell — in biology
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. snap — to click
  6. cell — a phone
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. land — ground
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. press — a publisher
  17. tear — from crying
  18. court — of a king
  19. tear — to rip
  20. press — newspapers
  21. court — of law
  22. court — for sport
  23. land — a country
  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