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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chair — a leader
  6. rash — hasty
  7. press — to push
  8. lean — thin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. stock — goods
  18. toast — bread
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. stock — shares
  21. lean — to bend
  22. rash — a series
  23. press — newspapers
  24. degree — temperature

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