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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: pop · mouse · degree · wind · cell · kid · drill · press

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. drill — the tool
  10. press — a publisher
  11. degree — temperature
  12. press — newspapers
  13. kid — child
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. press — to push
  17. drill — army training
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pop — music
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pop — to visit
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. degree — an amount
  24. drill — a practice

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