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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: game · saw · coach · bound · net · degree · wind · press

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. press — to push
  3. bound — tied together
  4. degree — temperature
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. press — a publisher
  9. net — after costs
  10. press — newspapers
  11. wind — moving air
  12. saw — the tool
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bound — certain
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — a match
  19. wind — moving air
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. net — in sport
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bound — obliged
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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