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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 120 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: fan · row · bark · ground · press · spring · straw · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. ground — the earth
  3. spring — of water
  4. ground — a position
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fine — all right
  11. row — a line
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. press — a publisher
  15. press — newspapers
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — to shout
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. press — to push
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spring — the season
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fine — a penalty

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