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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rock — music
  3. last — finally
  4. club — a group
  5. last — to go on
  6. rock — a stone
  7. last — final
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — to push
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rash — a series
  13. degree — an amount
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. ball — a dance
  17. club — for dancing
  18. rash — hasty
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. tear — from crying
  21. press — newspapers
  22. tear — to rip
  23. club — for golf
  24. tear — from crying

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