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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rush — hurry
  3. degree — temperature
  4. press — to push
  5. file — a line of people
  6. press — a publisher
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. file — a tool
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. file — a document
  12. content — the amount
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. content — happy
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. press — newspapers

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