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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — to go on
  3. bark — to shout
  4. degree — an amount
  5. mark — a trace
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rush — hurry
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. file — a document
  10. press — a publisher
  11. file — a tool
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. press — to push
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mark — a grade
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. press — newspapers
  24. mine — belonging to me

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