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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: wind · snap · charge · press · degree · row

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. charge — electricity
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. degree — from a university
  6. charge — a price
  7. press — a publisher
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. degree — temperature
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — an amount
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wind — moving air
  18. press — to push

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