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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rash — a series
  9. press — newspapers
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. degree — an amount
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. press — to push
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tube — a container
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. march — the month
  21. wind — moving air
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wind — moving air
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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