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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · swing · mate · degree · spring · wake · mine · plane

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. spring — a coil
  4. press — a publisher
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. mate — a friend
  7. press — to push
  8. mate — a partner
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. plane — a tool
  12. swing — music
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. mate — to breed
  16. degree — from a university
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — to play on
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. degree — temperature
  21. spring — of water
  22. press — newspapers
  23. spring — the season
  24. wake — before a funeral

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