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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. press — a publisher
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. sharp — clever
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. press — to push
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. degree — from a university
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — in cards
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hand — help
  24. degree — an amount

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