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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · last · net · object · degree · game · row · pop

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. net — in sport
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. game — wild animals
  6. last — to go on
  7. pop — to visit
  8. last — final
  9. object — to protest
  10. pop — music
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pop — soda
  14. net — after costs
  15. object — a thing
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — an amount
  18. net — for catching
  19. object — an aim
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. game — a match
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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