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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — from a university
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. press — to push
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. sharp — clever
  7. shower — rain
  8. press — a publisher
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — an amount
  17. shower — to wash
  18. press — newspapers

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