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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. press — to push
  3. lean — to bend
  4. pop — music
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pop — soda
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. tube — a container
  14. press — a publisher
  15. tube — the underground
  16. field — a subject
  17. pop — to visit
  18. squash — the sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. game — a match

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