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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · tear · net · vault · kid · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. net — in sport
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — after costs
  6. pop — soda
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — newspapers
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kid — child
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. pop — to visit
  15. net — for catching
  16. press — to push
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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