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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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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: cell · stem · straw · press · degree · game

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. game — wild animals
  3. press — a publisher
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cell — a phone
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. press — newspapers
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. game — a match
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. press — to push
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stem — of a plant

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