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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. rush — hurry
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. swing — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. degree — temperature
  11. press — a publisher
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — to push
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. pound — a weight
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pop — music
  21. bark — to shout
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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