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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: club · deal · degree · press · field · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. deal — to handle
  3. degree — an amount
  4. press — a publisher
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. club — for dancing
  8. club — for golf
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — temperature
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — to push
  17. club — a group
  18. deal — a big deal

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