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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. degree — from a university
  3. face — to point toward
  4. degree — an amount
  5. shower — to wash
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. press — to push
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cell — a phone
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. face — to confront
  15. mate — to breed
  16. shower — rain
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend
  19. march — the month
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — temperature

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