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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. press — a publisher
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — thin
  5. rule — a law
  6. bound — obliged
  7. spell — a short time
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bound — certain
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. press — newspapers
  17. shower — rain
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. spell — letters
  22. bound — tied together
  23. spell — magic
  24. press — to push

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