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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: wind · wake · press · race · shower · lean

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. race — the arms race
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. shower — rain
  6. press — to push
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. wake — a trail
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lean — thin
  15. press — newspapers
  16. lean — to bend
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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