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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. capital — money
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. press — a publisher
  5. degree — from a university
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tube — the underground
  9. band — a ring
  10. bark — to shout
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rest — a break
  14. degree — temperature
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tube — a container
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. rest — what's left
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. jam — in traffic

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