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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.

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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: swing · press · coach · degree · wake · rest · file · mate

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a tool
  3. swing — to play on
  4. press — to push
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. degree — from a university
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a line of people
  12. swing — in golf
  13. press — a publisher
  14. press — newspapers
  15. swing — music
  16. rest — a break
  17. file — a document
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. mate — a friend
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wake — a trail
  24. degree — an amount

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