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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rock — music
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. content — the amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kick — in football
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rock — a stone
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. content — happy
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — an amount
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. press — newspapers
  24. mine — for digging

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