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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. press — to push
  2. present — there
  3. net — for catching
  4. race — humankind
  5. bass — the fish
  6. land — to come down
  7. press — a publisher
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bass — low music
  10. land — a country
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. net — in sport
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. chest — of your body
  16. present — a gift
  17. chest — a box
  18. race — a contest
  19. net — after costs
  20. race — the arms race
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — ground
  23. press — newspapers
  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