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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: lean · band · calf · press · degree · mine · saw · game

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. game — a match
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. band — a ring
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. saw — the tool
  11. degree — temperature
  12. press — a publisher
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. band — a music group
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. lean — to bend
  17. game — wild animals
  18. press — newspapers
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. mine — for digging
  23. lean — thin
  24. saw — the tool

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