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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 · vault · wind · row · wound · march

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. press — newspapers
  7. wound — an injury
  8. march — the month
  9. vault — a safe
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. press — to push
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wind — moving air
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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