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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.

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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. press — a publisher
  3. drill — the tool
  4. present — there
  5. drill — army training
  6. last — final
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. squash — the sport
  10. deal — to handle
  11. last — finally
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. present — a gift
  15. drill — a practice
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. press — newspapers
  19. last — to go on
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. press — to push
  24. present — the time now

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