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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. roll — a cake
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. field — for sport
  8. snap — to click
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. file — a document
  11. roll — a list
  12. field — farmland
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. field — a subject
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. press — newspapers
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bulb — for light
  24. file — a tool

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