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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stem — to come from
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. degree — temperature
  5. press — to push
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. press — newspapers
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. lean — to bend
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. mark — a trace
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fan — to cool the air

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