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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rule — government
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. press — newspapers
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. press — a publisher
  19. shower — rain
  20. degree — temperature
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rule — a law
  24. cabinet — ministers

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