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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.

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: press · bat · shower · row · wound · march · safe · leaves

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. press — to push
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. march — the month
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. press — newspapers
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. march — music
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. press — a publisher
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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