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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. staff — employees
  4. ground — a position
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mine — for digging
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. press — to push
  14. ground — the earth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pit — a hole
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. ground — crushed
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pit — in a race
  24. game — a match

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