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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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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 · fine · bat · cap · rule · degree · rest · wake

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fine — all right
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cap — of ice
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fine — high quality
  8. press — a publisher
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — the animal
  14. press — newspapers
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rule — government
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — what's left
  23. press — to push
  24. cap — a hat

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