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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: staff · spring · bound · press · saw · fine · bore · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. staff — a stick
  3. bound — obliged
  4. press — to push
  5. bound — tied together
  6. degree — temperature
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. staff — employees
  9. fine — high quality
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bore — to drill
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. fine — all right
  16. staff — employees
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bore — to tire
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bound — certain
  23. spring — of water
  24. bore — gave birth

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