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

Word bank: track · straw · wind · degree · press · capital · snap · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a city
  5. press — a publisher
  6. track — a song
  7. press — newspapers
  8. track — a path
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. press — to push
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to click
  19. capital — money
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bulb — for light
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. track — to keep track
  24. degree — from a university

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