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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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. degree — from a university
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. bound — certain
  6. degree — an amount
  7. fork — in a road
  8. press — newspapers
  9. content — happy
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. press — a publisher
  13. capital — a city
  14. fine — all right
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fine — high quality
  17. bound — obliged
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. capital — money
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. bound — tied together
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — wild animals
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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