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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: bore · hide · press · land · straw · net

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. net — after costs
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. press — a publisher
  7. land — to come down
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bore — to tire
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. land — ground
  13. bore — to drill
  14. press — newspapers
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. land — a country
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching

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