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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mate · press · game · face · season · march · shower · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mate — a partner
  3. press — to push
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — newspapers
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. face — to point toward
  8. wind — moving air
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — rain
  11. face — part of the head
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — in sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mate — to breed
  17. face — to confront
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. march — music
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. march — the month

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