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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. degree — from a university
  4. press — newspapers
  5. press — to push
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cell — a phone
  8. press — a publisher
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cell — in biology
  17. sharp — clever
  18. stem — to come from
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wind — moving air
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. game — a match

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