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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 120 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
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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 · press · net · shower · key · rule · bat · cue

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cue — a signal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. net — after costs
  6. cue — a hint
  7. shower — rain
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bat — the animal
  10. net — in sport
  11. key — for a lock
  12. degree — temperature
  13. press — to push
  14. rule — government
  15. press — a publisher
  16. shower — to wash
  17. net — for catching
  18. cue — for pool
  19. rule — a law
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. degree — from a university
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — in music

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