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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. press — to push
  3. degree — from a university
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. scale — in music
  6. cell — in biology
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. march — the month
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. press — newspapers
  16. kick — in football
  17. cell — a phone
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. press — a publisher
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. scale — size or range
  24. rest — what's left

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