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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 hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. press — to push
  3. cell — in biology
  4. press — a publisher
  5. cap — a hat
  6. track — a song
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. staff — employees
  9. lean — to bend
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cap — of ice
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — a city
  19. lean — thin
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cap — a lid
  22. staff — a stick
  23. track — a path
  24. degree — an amount

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