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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. ball — a dance
  5. last — final
  6. tube — a container
  7. press — to push
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — a series
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. ball — a great time
  18. degree — an amount
  19. last — finally
  20. last — to go on
  21. pitch — completely
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — a publisher

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