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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. spring — a coil
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. press — a publisher
  10. ground — the earth
  11. band — a music group
  12. rash — hasty
  13. spring — the season
  14. degree — temperature
  15. spring — of water
  16. rash — a series
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — to push
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ground — a position
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pop — soda
  23. ground — crushed
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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