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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 120 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: press · rash · fall · present · wind · ground · cap · root

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fall — the season
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rash — a series
  5. fall — to drop
  6. press — a publisher
  7. root — the cause
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cap — a hat
  10. present — the time now
  11. cap — a lid
  12. rash — hasty
  13. wind — moving air
  14. root — of a plant
  15. cap — of ice
  16. present — a gift
  17. press — to push
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. present — there
  21. root — of a word
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ground — the earth

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