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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · game · snap · saw · degree · scale · cabinet · press

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. degree — an amount
  3. snap — to click
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. press — newspapers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. degree — from a university
  8. press — a publisher
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. press — to push
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. saw — the tool
  14. scale — in music
  15. cold — an illness
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — not warm
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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