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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — from a university
  6. face — part of the head
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — to push
  9. spell — letters
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. press — a publisher
  12. pit — in a race
  13. degree — temperature
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hand — help
  16. pit — a hole
  17. ball — a dance
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — magic
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. prune — the fruit
  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