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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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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: clip · coach · key · press · track · bear · deal · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. clip — to cut
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. deal — to handle
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. key — in music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. key — for a lock
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bear — the animal
  17. track — a song
  18. clip — a video
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. clip — for paper
  21. key — the most important part
  22. track — a path
  23. bear — the animal
  24. press — newspapers

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