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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. press — to push
  4. kick — in football
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. scale — in music
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wind — moving air
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a document
  15. scale — size or range
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. press — newspapers
  18. court — of a king
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. file — a tool
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a line of people

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