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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 124 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — an amount
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. sharp — clever
  8. wind — moving air
  9. press — to push
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hand — in cards
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. press — newspapers
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. trunk — of a car

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