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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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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: tear · mate · kid · ground · bowl · squash · press · march

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. press — a publisher
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mate — to breed
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mate — a friend
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. march — music
  12. press — newspapers
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. squash — to crush
  16. ground — a position
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. march — the month
  19. mate — a partner
  20. ground — the earth
  21. march — the month
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. press — to push
  24. tear — from crying

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