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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 116 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. net — in sport
  5. press — a publisher
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. staff — employees
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. staff — a stick
  11. net — after costs
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. staff — employees
  14. ball — a dance
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. net — for catching
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. press — newspapers
  20. ball — a great time
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. degree — temperature

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