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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pop — music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. press — a publisher
  9. scale — in music
  10. kick — in football
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pop — to visit
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. tear — to rip
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. press — to push
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pop — soda
  22. scale — size or range
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cell — in biology

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