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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spring — a coil
  6. land — ground
  7. press — newspapers
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. present — a gift
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. present — there
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. land — a country
  15. present — the time now
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. spring — of water
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. degree — an amount
  22. spring — the season
  23. press — to push
  24. press — a publisher

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