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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. press — a publisher
  9. degree — an amount
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. file — a line of people
  12. race — a contest
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. race — the arms race
  15. press — to push
  16. file — a tool
  17. press — newspapers
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. race — humankind
  23. file — a document
  24. degree — from a university

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