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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: press · file · ball · cold · ruler · net · degree · chip

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. net — after costs
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chip — for betting
  6. file — a document
  7. press — newspapers
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chip — to eat
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. press — to push
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. file — a tool
  18. ball — a great time
  19. press — a publisher
  20. ball — a dance
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. file — a line of people
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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