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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. file — a line of people
  3. degree — temperature
  4. press — to push
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. file — a tool
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bear — the animal
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. degree — from a university
  16. press — newspapers
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. lean — thin
  19. press — a publisher
  20. lean — to bend
  21. file — a document
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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