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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. press — a publisher
  3. stock — shares
  4. land — a country
  5. lean — thin
  6. stem — to come from
  7. band — a ring
  8. land — ground
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. press — to push
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lean — to bend
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. stock — goods
  21. degree — from a university
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. press — newspapers
  24. land — to come down

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