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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · perch · mark · object · degree · spring · field · cold

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mark — a trace
  3. field — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. press — to push
  7. spring — a coil
  8. field — a subject
  9. spring — of water
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mark — a grade
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cold — an illness
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — the season
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — newspapers
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. object — a thing

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