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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — a law
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. degree — temperature
  7. band — a ring
  8. press — to push
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bore — to drill
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — hasty
  18. prune — to trim
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bore — to tire
  22. wind — moving air
  23. prune — to trim
  24. press — newspapers

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