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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. press — a publisher
  4. object — to protest
  5. perch — the fish
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. clip — a video
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. press — to push
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — a coil
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. race — a contest
  18. spring — of water
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — a thing
  21. press — newspapers
  22. spring — the season
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. degree — temperature

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