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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cue — for pool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — a city
  5. press — to push
  6. current — electric
  7. net — in sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cue — a signal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cue — a hint
  15. capital — money
  16. current — of water
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. current — happening now
  19. net — for catching
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a leader
  22. wind — moving air
  23. press — newspapers
  24. net — after costs

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