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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: patient · face · press · chair · game · spring · degree · bear

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. game — a match
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bear — the animal
  8. face — part of the head
  9. spring — of water
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. press — to push
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — to point toward
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bear — the animal
  22. press — newspapers
  23. face — to confront
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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