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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. net — after costs
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — moving air
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. snap — to click
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. net — in sport
  10. march — music
  11. dip — to sink
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bark — to shout
  14. march — the month
  15. press — a publisher
  16. spring — of water
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. press — to push
  19. wind — moving air
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. spring — a coil
  22. net — for catching
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. wind — to turn a key

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