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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. spell — letters
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. press — a publisher
  5. stem — to come from
  6. row — a line
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. spell — magic
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. press — to push
  16. lie — to recline
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. press — newspapers

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