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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. club — for golf
  3. shower — rain
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. shower — to wash
  6. press — to push
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wound — an injury
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. spring — of water
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wound — an injury
  13. season — of the year
  14. club — a group
  15. degree — an amount
  16. row — a line
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. press — a publisher
  19. season — in sport
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spring — the season
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — for dancing

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