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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: field · bound · vault · press · stem · bat · degree · court

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — to push
  3. court — of a king
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. court — for sport
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — a subject
  9. bound — tied together
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bound — certain
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. field — for sport
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bound — obliged
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — of law
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. vault — a safe
  24. field — farmland

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