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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 · cell · tube · band · wake · degree

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — to push
  3. tube — the underground
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. degree — temperature
  9. band — a music group
  10. wake — a trail
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. tube — a container
  16. cell — in biology
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band

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