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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 · staff · cold · ball · press · bowl · calf · chair

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — a stick
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ball — a dance
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. press — newspapers
  9. staff — employees
  10. chair — a leader
  11. press — to push
  12. press — a publisher
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. ball — a great time
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. staff — employees

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