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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. prune — to trim
  4. snap — to click
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. press — to push
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cap — a lid
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. press — a publisher
  12. degree — from a university
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — temperature

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