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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cap — a lid
  7. press — to push
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. press — a publisher
  12. sharp — clever
  13. stem — to come from
  14. swing — music
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cap — of ice
  20. press — newspapers
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bay — a horse colour

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