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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: key · press · degree · last · mate · cell · wave · pop

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. last — to go on
  4. pop — soda
  5. mate — to breed
  6. press — a publisher
  7. mate — a friend
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — temperature
  10. key — in music
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. mate — a partner
  13. pop — to visit
  14. key — for a lock
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pop — music
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. press — to push
  19. last — final
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. key — the most important part
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cell — in biology

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