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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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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: game · season · wind · snap · lie · race · press · lean

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. game — a match
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. race — a contest
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lie — to recline
  8. season — of the year
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — thin
  12. press — to push
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — in sport
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. race — the arms race
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. race — humankind

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