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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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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: rule · degree · press · lean · cold · fall · club · wound

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — temperature
  3. press — to push
  4. club — a group
  5. press — a publisher
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. press — newspapers
  12. rule — government
  13. wound — an injury
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rule — a law
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. lean — to bend
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fall — to drop
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — an illness

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