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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. 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. press — a publisher
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rock — a stone
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. degree — temperature
  8. press — to push
  9. rock — music
  10. bark — to shout
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. date — the fruit
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. degree — from a university
  17. file — a tool
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cell — a phone
  21. degree — an amount
  22. file — a document
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. 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