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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bore — to tire
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. press — to push
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lie — to recline
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. row — a line
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. bore — to drill

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