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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. press — to push
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. press — newspapers
  8. club — a group
  9. race — a contest
  10. degree — temperature
  11. present — there
  12. race — humankind
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. lie — to recline
  18. press — a publisher
  19. wind — moving air
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. degree — an amount
  24. club — for golf

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