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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. press — a publisher
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. band — a music group
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. press — to push
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. kick — in football
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. perch — the fish
  23. press — newspapers
  24. ruler — a monarch

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