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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — an amount
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. snap — to click
  5. squash — the sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. current — electric
  8. press — newspapers
  9. current — happening now
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. press — a publisher
  12. current — of water
  13. ground — crushed
  14. degree — from a university
  15. press — to push
  16. cell — in biology
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. field — a subject
  19. degree — temperature
  20. field — farmland
  21. ground — the earth
  22. squash — to crush
  23. ground — a position
  24. cell — in a prison

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