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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: shower · tear · board · press · march · present · pitcher · wake

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. press — a publisher
  3. march — music
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. march — the month
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wake — a trail
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. present — the time now
  11. board — a committee
  12. present — there
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. present — a gift
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. march — the month
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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