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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. press — to push
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. press — a publisher
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pitch — completely
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. tear — to rip
  17. deal — to handle
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. press — newspapers

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