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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. degree — from a university
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. kick — in football
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — an amount
  9. press — newspapers
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — a trail
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wind — moving air
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. land — to come down
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. press — a publisher

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