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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. press — a publisher
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. kid — to tease
  10. press — to push
  11. prune — to trim
  12. face — part of the head
  13. key — in music
  14. press — newspapers
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. face — to point toward
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. face — to confront
  22. saw — the tool
  23. kid — child
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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