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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — temperature
  3. net — after costs
  4. game — wild animals
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bore — to tire
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bore — to drill
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. net — in sport
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — to push
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. net — for catching
  22. degree — an amount
  23. press — a publisher
  24. cell — in biology

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