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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. degree — an amount
  5. present — a gift
  6. lie — to recline
  7. present — the time now
  8. degree — temperature
  9. field — farmland
  10. press — to push
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. field — for sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — to cut
  19. press — newspapers
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. degree — from a university
  22. field — a subject
  23. present — there
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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