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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 120 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: fine · degree · firm · wound · wake · press · cold · foot

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. fine — all right
  3. degree — temperature
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. firm — steady
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — an amount
  9. firm — a company
  10. press — to push
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fine — high quality
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. press — a publisher
  18. foot — a measure
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. cold — an illness
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. foot — the bottom

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