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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: scale · press · degree · stock · cabinet · dip · file · chair

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chair — a leader
  3. degree — an amount
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. press — to push
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. file — a tool
  10. stock — goods
  11. press — newspapers
  12. stock — shares
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. press — a publisher
  16. degree — temperature
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. scale — size or range
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. file — a document
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. scale — 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