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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: press · fall · bear · tube · march · wind · lean · drill

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. lean — thin
  3. press — to push
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. press — a publisher
  6. march — the month
  7. tube — the underground
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fall — to drop
  13. drill — a practice
  14. march — the month
  15. lean — to bend
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wind — moving air
  19. march — music
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. fall — the season
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fall — to drop

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