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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. vault — a safe
  7. press — to push
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. degree — from a university
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tube — the underground
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. press — newspapers
  19. tube — a container
  20. chest — of your body
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. chest — a box
  23. wind — moving air
  24. trunk — of a tree

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