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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fine — high quality
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stem — to come from
  9. last — to go on
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fine — all right
  13. press — a publisher
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. degree — from a university
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. last — finally
  19. press — newspapers
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. last — final
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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