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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. press — newspapers
  6. snap — to click
  7. spring — the season
  8. degree — temperature
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. press — a publisher
  11. degree — an amount
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. capital — money
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. press — to push

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