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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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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: press · pop · wound · row · saw · pitcher · bark · spring

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bark — to shout
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spring — the season
  9. press — a publisher
  10. wound — an injury
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pop — soda
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. press — newspapers
  16. pop — music
  17. press — to push
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. spring — of water
  20. row — a line
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wound — an injury

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