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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. press — to push
  5. content — happy
  6. content — the amount
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. face — to confront
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. last — to go on
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. face — to point toward
  18. press — newspapers
  19. face — part of the head
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. prune — to trim

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