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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — to push
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. track — to keep track
  5. ground — the earth
  6. track — a song
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. press — newspapers
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. track — a path
  13. bear — the animal
  14. game — a match
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. cap — a hat
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cap — a lid
  23. press — a publisher
  24. game — wild animals

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