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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. press — to push
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. swing — music
  10. capital — a city
  11. fall — to drop
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. swing — in golf
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fall — the season
  16. degree — temperature
  17. press — newspapers
  18. capital — money
  19. kick — in football
  20. fall — to drop
  21. swing — to play on
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. kick — with a leg

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