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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. fall — to drop
  3. charge — a price
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. wind — moving air
  6. content — the amount
  7. land — a country
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. snap — to click
  10. file — a document
  11. land — to come down
  12. charge — electricity
  13. fall — the season
  14. press — a publisher
  15. land — ground
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fall — to drop
  18. press — newspapers
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — moving air
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. file — a tool
  23. charge — in control
  24. content — happy

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