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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. march — music
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. degree — from a university
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bound — tied together
  9. march — the month
  10. press — to push
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. press — newspapers
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bound — certain
  23. last — to go on
  24. degree — temperature

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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