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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lie — to recline
  3. swing — to play on
  4. season — in sport
  5. press — newspapers
  6. key — for a lock
  7. lean — thin
  8. key — in music
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. press — a publisher
  11. degree — an amount
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. key — the most important part
  14. mine — for digging
  15. press — to push
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. degree — temperature
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. season — of the year
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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