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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. mark — a grade
  3. deal — to handle
  4. degree — temperature
  5. shower — rain
  6. mark — a trace
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. last — final
  11. press — a publisher
  12. last — finally
  13. press — to push
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. chest — a box
  16. press — newspapers
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. lean — to bend
  20. chest — of your body
  21. last — to go on
  22. lean — thin
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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