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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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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: field · bear · press · degree · wax · ground · cabinet · straw

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. press — to push
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. ground — a position
  6. bear — the animal
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ground — crushed
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. press — newspapers
  13. field — a subject
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wax — to grow
  16. ground — the earth
  17. press — a publisher
  18. field — farmland
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bear — the animal
  22. degree — temperature
  23. field — for sport
  24. cabinet — ministers

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