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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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468
Word bank
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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. scale — in music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. craft — boats
  5. press — to push
  6. last — final
  7. press — newspapers
  8. spring — the season
  9. last — finally
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spring — of water
  12. wind — moving air
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. pound — a weight
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. wind — moving air
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. last — to go on
  21. press — a publisher
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pound — for dogs

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