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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 120 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: row · wound · court · degree · pop · bowl · ruler · press

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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. bowl — a dish
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. row — to paddle
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pop — music
  15. court — for sport
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — temperature
  18. press — newspapers
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. pop — to visit
  21. row — a line
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. pop — soda
  24. bowl — to roll

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