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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. nail — for a hammer
  2. ground — the earth
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — to trim
  6. drill — the tool
  7. press — to push
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. last — finally
  10. press — a publisher
  11. last — final
  12. degree — temperature
  13. drill — a practice
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. ground — crushed
  17. spring — a coil
  18. ground — a position
  19. prune — to trim
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. drill — army training
  22. last — to go on
  23. press — newspapers
  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