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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: chip · jam · press · degree · roll · clip · drill · hand

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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. drill — a practice
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. chip — to eat
  9. press — newspapers
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. clip — a video
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chip — for betting
  17. roll — a list
  18. clip — to cut
  19. drill — the tool
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. roll — a cake
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hand — help
  24. drill — army training

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