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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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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: ball · plane · cold · rock · bowl · tear · toast · press

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. press — a publisher
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. rock — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. plane — a tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. toast — bread
  15. tear — to rip
  16. press — to push
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cold — not warm
  20. press — newspapers
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. ball — a dance
  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