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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 · degree · field · bat · pop · staff · sharp · coach

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — from a university
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. degree — temperature
  5. staff — employees
  6. pop — soda
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. field — a subject
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. press — newspapers
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. degree — an amount
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. press — to push
  20. pop — to visit
  21. sharp — clever
  22. pop — music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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