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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. press — a publisher
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mark — a trace
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. press — to push
  10. mine — for digging
  11. board — a committee
  12. wind — moving air
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. tear — from crying
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — newspapers
  18. tear — to rip
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. board — to get on
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mark — a grade

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