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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: degree · bound · press · stick · rush · arm · wind · cell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rush — hurry
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. wind — moving air
  11. press — to push
  12. bound — tied together
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bound — certain
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. arm — a part of something

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