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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. press — to push
  6. kid — child
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — to tease
  9. press — a publisher
  10. scale — in music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. scale — size or range
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. swing — in golf
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — to play on
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. swing — music
  23. degree — an amount
  24. press — newspapers

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