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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: vault · firm · press · land · cold · degree

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. degree — temperature
  3. firm — steady
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — an amount
  7. press — a publisher
  8. land — ground
  9. press — newspapers
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. firm — decided
  12. land — a country
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. land — to come down
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — an illness
  17. firm — a company
  18. cold — not warm

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