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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pit — a hole
  4. press — to push
  5. drill — a practice
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spring — of water
  8. press — newspapers
  9. press — a publisher
  10. degree — from a university
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. drill — the tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. spring — the season
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. deal — to handle
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. degree — temperature
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. drill — army training
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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