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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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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: spring · bore · bat · bay · press · straw · sharp · kick

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. kick — in football
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. press — to push
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. spring — the season
  12. press — a publisher
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. press — newspapers
  15. bore — to tire
  16. spring — of water
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bore — to drill
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bore — gave birth

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