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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: straw · snap · bowl · band · shower · press · lie · field

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. lie — to recline
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — for sport
  5. press — a publisher
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. snap — to click
  9. field — a subject
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. band — a music group
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. press — newspapers
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. field — farmland
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. press — to push
  24. lie — an untruth

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