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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · rush · nail · degree · dip · press · tube · capital

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rush — hurry
  4. capital — a city
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. race — a contest
  8. degree — from a university
  9. dip — to sink
  10. race — the arms race
  11. tube — a container
  12. tube — the underground
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. race — humankind
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. press — newspapers
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. press — to push
  23. degree — temperature
  24. capital — money

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