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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: chair · stem · press · clip · degree · content

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. content — happy
  3. chair — a leader
  4. content — the amount
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. press — to push
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stem — to come from
  9. degree — an amount
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. press — a publisher
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. clip — a video
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chair — to sit on

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