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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: tube · press · field · snap · shower · wind · content · net

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. press — to push
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — a subject
  5. tube — a container
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. snap — to click
  8. shower — rain
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. content — the amount
  11. net — in sport
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. content — happy
  14. wind — moving air
  15. press — newspapers
  16. net — after costs
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — for sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. net — for catching
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. tube — the underground
  23. shower — to wash
  24. press — a publisher

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