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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: net · mine · press · ground · march · cabinet · current · chest

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. ground — crushed
  3. net — after costs
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. ground — the earth
  7. press — to push
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. chest — a box
  11. march — the month
  12. current — electric
  13. net — in sport
  14. ground — a position
  15. net — for catching
  16. current — happening now
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. press — a publisher
  19. current — of water
  20. march — music
  21. press — newspapers
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mine — for digging

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