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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: degree · sharp · fan · press · cap · pop · wake · land

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wake — a trail
  7. pop — to visit
  8. press — to push
  9. land — a country
  10. cap — a lid
  11. land — ground
  12. pop — music
  13. degree — temperature
  14. land — to come down
  15. pop — soda
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cap — of ice
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. press — a publisher
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. sharp — clever
  24. fan — a supporter

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