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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — crushed
  4. board — to get on
  5. prune — to trim
  6. press — a publisher
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. press — to push
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. prune — to trim
  18. board — a committee
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. press — newspapers
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. degree — temperature

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