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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. lean — thin
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. press — a publisher
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hand — in cards
  10. lean — to bend
  11. degree — an amount
  12. hand — help
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. press — to push
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. snap — to click
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. prune — the fruit
  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