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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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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: rest · press · degree · wound · pit · club

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. press — to push
  3. club — for golf
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pit — in a race
  6. club — for dancing
  7. press — newspapers
  8. pit — a hole
  9. press — a publisher
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. club — a group
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — from a university

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