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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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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: mine · ground · press · wound · wind · tear · stand · snap

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. stand — to bear
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tear — from crying
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. press — newspapers
  9. snap — to click
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — for digging
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. ground — a position
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — from crying

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