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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: press · land · row · saw · hide · staff · fork · degree

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. staff — a stick
  3. press — to push
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. staff — employees
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. row — to paddle
  9. saw — the tool
  10. staff — employees
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. press — newspapers
  14. fork — in a road
  15. degree — an amount
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — temperature
  18. row — a line
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. land — to come down
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — from a university
  24. fork — a garden tool

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