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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. press — newspapers
  5. press — to push
  6. bat — the animal
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. degree — temperature
  9. shower — rain
  10. present — the time now
  11. fork — in a road
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. saw — the tool
  14. present — a gift
  15. present — there
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. press — a publisher
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. saw — the tool
  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