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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a city
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to tire
  6. kick — in football
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — to push
  14. drill — a practice
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. degree — an amount
  21. drill — army training
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. bore — to drill
  24. drill — the tool

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