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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — temperature
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. charge — in control
  5. press — a publisher
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. snap — to click
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. last — to go on
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bark — to shout
  13. degree — from a university
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. charge — electricity
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. press — to push
  19. charge — a price
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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