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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. swing — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — to trim
  6. shower — rain
  7. press — to push
  8. prune — to trim
  9. can — to be able to
  10. spell — a short time
  11. press — a publisher
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. swing — in golf
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. swing — to play on
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. can — a tin
  18. press — newspapers
  19. spell — letters
  20. game — wild animals
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spell — magic
  23. game — a match
  24. shower — to wash

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