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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cap — a hat
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. press — to push
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rush — hurry
  20. cap — of ice
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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