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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 116 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — from a university
  3. press — newspapers
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. rash — a series
  6. key — in music
  7. press — a publisher
  8. degree — temperature
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cold — an illness
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. press — to push
  16. cold — not warm
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — boats
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. key — for a lock
  23. key — the most important part
  24. degree — an amount

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