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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 124 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fall — to drop
  4. march — music
  5. fall — the season
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. press — newspapers
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. press — to push
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. content — the amount
  22. march — the month
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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