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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: press · stick · bound · degree · cell · clip

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. bound — certain
  5. cell — in biology
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — obliged
  9. press — a publisher
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. press — to push
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. press — newspapers
  16. clip — a video
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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