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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spell — letters
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spell — magic
  5. track — a song
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cell — in biology
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. press — to push
  13. bark — to shout
  14. press — a publisher
  15. spell — a short time
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. degree — temperature
  22. press — newspapers
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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