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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: fine · press · hand · season · lean · saw · roll · straw

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. fine — all right
  3. hand — help
  4. press — to push
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. roll — a list
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. lean — thin
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. saw — the tool
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a cake
  19. fine — high quality
  20. season — in sport
  21. press — newspapers
  22. hand — in cards
  23. press — a publisher
  24. season — of the year

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