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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. track — a song
  3. spell — letters
  4. staff — employees
  5. degree — an amount
  6. press — to push
  7. bat — the animal
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a path
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. press — newspapers
  13. degree — from a university
  14. press — a publisher
  15. spell — magic
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. staff — a stick
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. staff — employees
  21. net — in sport
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. degree — temperature

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