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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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Word bank
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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: rule · press · ball · degree · chest · perch

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. 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. press — a publisher
  2. rule — government
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. press — newspapers
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ball — a dance
  9. degree — temperature
  10. ball — a great time
  11. rule — a law
  12. press — to push
  13. degree — an amount
  14. chest — a box
  15. perch — the fish
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. 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