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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: degree · wind · game · snap · press · field · rule · bowl

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rule — government
  3. field — for sport
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — wild animals
  10. field — farmland
  11. press — a publisher
  12. game — a match
  13. degree — an amount
  14. press — to push
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. wind — moving air
  21. press — newspapers
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rule — a law

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