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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — an amount
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. key — in music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chest — of your body
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. key — for a lock
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. press — to push
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. deal — to handle
  16. key — the most important part
  17. press — newspapers
  18. rush — hurry
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. wind — moving air
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rush — a thrill

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