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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. club — for golf
  3. spring — of water
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. club — for dancing
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. net — for catching
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. degree — an amount
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — a coil
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. degree — from a university
  16. net — after costs
  17. prune — to trim
  18. press — newspapers
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. net — in sport
  21. spring — the season
  22. club — a group
  23. press — a publisher
  24. press — to push

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