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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. last — finally
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — temperature
  6. press — newspapers
  7. field — for sport
  8. pit — a hole
  9. degree — an amount
  10. march — music
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. last — final
  15. pit — in a race
  16. march — the month
  17. field — farmland
  18. press — to push
  19. march — the month
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. deal — to handle
  22. degree — from a university
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. fork — in a road

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