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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — goods
  4. press — to push
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — newspapers
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mug — a face
  10. ground — a position
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stock — shares
  13. mug — to rob
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cell — a phone
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — an amount
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mug — a cup
  24. shower — rain

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