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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 · ruler · kid · cue · scale · date · degree · trunk

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. press — a publisher
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cue — for pool
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. degree — from a university
  10. press — newspapers
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. date — the fruit
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. kid — child
  15. press — to push
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. scale — size or range
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cue — a signal
  21. scale — in music
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. kid — to tease
  24. ruler — for measuring

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