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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 120 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cold — an illness
  3. press — to push
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — the earth
  8. degree — temperature
  9. staff — employees
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ball — a dance
  13. degree — an amount
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. sharp — clever
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. press — newspapers
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ball — a great time

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