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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 120 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. spring — of water
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spring — the season
  6. game — a match
  7. face — to point toward
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — newspapers
  11. face — part of the head
  12. game — wild animals
  13. swing — to play on
  14. season — in sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tear — from crying
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. face — to confront
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. season — of the year
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. tear — to rip
  24. swing — music

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