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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chip — to eat
  4. degree — from a university
  5. face — to point toward
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ground — crushed
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — temperature
  11. press — newspapers
  12. degree — an amount
  13. ground — the earth
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. press — a publisher
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. ground — a position

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