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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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Word bank
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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. present — there
  3. press — to push
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. row — to paddle
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. swing — to play on
  10. present — the time now
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. present — a gift
  13. vault — a safe
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. swing — in golf
  18. kick — in football
  19. press — a publisher
  20. degree — an amount
  21. press — newspapers
  22. swing — music
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. row — a line

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