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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 · file · tear · spell · pound · kid

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. press — a publisher
  3. spell — magic
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pound — a weight
  8. tear — from crying
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. kid — child
  12. press — newspapers
  13. spell — letters
  14. press — to push
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. kid — to tease
  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