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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. content — the amount
  5. press — to push
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — the season
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. press — newspapers
  14. spring — of water
  15. march — music
  16. fall — to drop
  17. march — the month
  18. degree — temperature
  19. last — to go on
  20. press — a publisher
  21. content — happy
  22. march — the month
  23. last — finally
  24. rush — hurry

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