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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — from a university
  4. spring — the season
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. season — in sport
  8. land — to come down
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. press — to push
  11. spring — a coil
  12. press — newspapers
  13. season — of the year
  14. press — a publisher
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. spring — of water
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. land — ground
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. degree — an amount
  24. land — a country

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