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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. track — a path
  3. degree — temperature
  4. prune — to trim
  5. press — to push
  6. rock — music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — a stone
  11. wind — moving air
  12. track — to keep track
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — an amount
  19. track — a song
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. press — a publisher
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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