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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. board — a committee
  3. press — to push
  4. board — to get on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. game — a match
  7. fall — to drop
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. press — a publisher
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fall — the season
  15. hand — help
  16. stock — goods
  17. prune — to trim
  18. game — wild animals
  19. press — newspapers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stock — shares
  24. board — a flat piece

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