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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pit — in a race
  3. kid — to tease
  4. degree — an amount
  5. track — a path
  6. degree — temperature
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. track — a song
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. track — to keep track
  11. shower — rain
  12. root — of a plant
  13. kid — child
  14. pit — a hole
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — from a university
  18. root — the cause
  19. press — a publisher
  20. press — newspapers
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. press — to push
  23. root — of a word
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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