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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. press — newspapers
  4. cap — a hat
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. shower — to wash
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cap — a lid
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cap — of ice
  13. degree — temperature
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. march — music
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lean — thin
  22. shower — rain
  23. press — to push
  24. press — a publisher

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