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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — a publisher
  3. cap — of ice
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. press — to push
  6. chest — of your body
  7. march — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. march — the month
  10. cap — a lid
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. saw — the tool
  13. game — wild animals
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — a hat
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. degree — from a university
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. game — a match
  23. press — newspapers
  24. march — the month

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